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LED light bulbs are already supposed to be energy-efficient, but Signifiy thinks it can improve on the formula. The company has released Philips Ultra Efficient LED bulbs that, as the name implies, use 40 percent less energy than the brand's usual LED options. The "advanced" LEDs and optics reduce the yearly energy cost to between 55 cents and $1.03 per bulb, Signify claims. For context, a Philips Ultra Definition 60W bulb uses an estimated 97 cents each year.

The new lights might also be helpful if you're trying to minimize waste. Signify estimates that the Ultra Efficient line has an average lifespan of 50 years, or more than three times the usage of Philips' standard LED bulbs. There's a real chance this lighting might outlive you.

The Philips range is available now as a Walmart exclusive. It starts at $10 for a 60W-equivalent A19 bulb ($17 for two) in soft white and daylight variants. A 65W BR30 bulb costs $11, while a 100W A21 light is $15. You're paying considerably more than you would for standard LEDs — a four-pack of Philips Ultra Definition 60W bulbs costs $14. However, Signify is clearly betting that the lower energy costs and increased longevity will ultimately save you money on top of being kinder to the environment.

The catch, of course, is that these aren't smart bulbs. You'll need to live with higher energy consumption if you insist on Philips Hue and don't want to use smart plugs. If that isn't an obstacle, though, you may see your energy bills shrink if you replace enough bulbs around your home.

Nearly two years after Jeff Bezos said Amazon would spend $300 million to improve workplace safety, a coalition of labor unions claims the company was responsible for 53 percent of all serious warehouse injuries recorded in the US last year. In a report released on Wednesday (PDF link), the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) said data collected by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) shows Amazon warehouse workers continue to suffer injuries more frequently than their non-Amazon counterparts. It also claims those injuries were often more severe.

In 2022, Amazon reported a total of 38,609 recordable injuries. Per the SOC, those are incidents that require a worker to either take time off from their regular job or seek medical treatment beyond first aid. Of those injuries, 95 percent were those the organization considers serious either because Amazon had to temporarily reassign the worker to a less strenuous role or give them time off to recover.

After crunching the data, the SOC found Amazon’s total injury rate in 2022 was 6.9 injuries per 100 workers. Comparatively, that’s a better rate than the 7.9 injuries per 100 workers the company recorded last year, and the staggering nine injuries per 100 workers the SOC says Amazon managed in 2019, but the organization contends the data shows Amazon “failed to make meaningful progress on worker safety.” Specifically, the SOC points to the rate at which Amazon workers suffered “serious” injuries. At 6.6 per 100 workers, the organization says Amazon’s 2022 serious injury rate is 12 percent higher than the one the company recorded in 2020 and more than double the rate seen at non-Amazon warehouses last year.

Put another way, the SOC claims more than half of all serious US warehouse injuries in 2022 occured at Amazon, despite the company only employing 36 percent of all US warehouse workers last year. “For a corporation that prides itself on moving quickly and decisively informed by sophisticated data analysis, Amazon’s ongoing failure to provide safe working conditions raises major questions about whether the company’s management is serious about becoming ‘earth’s safest place to work,’ or whether it continues to put profits before the safety of the very people responsible for its success,” the report states.

Amazon disputes the Strategic Organizing Center’s interpretation of the data it shared with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Specifically, it takes issue with SOC’s use of “serious injury rate,” noting it’s not an official OSHA metric. The agency does track when a workplace injury requires a worker to either change roles or take time off. However, Amazon contends that metric – known as DART or “days away, restricted, or transferred rates” – is not shorthand for a serious injury. It claims DART metrics often incorporate “relatively minor” injuries. Instead, the company says critics should look at its recordable injuries and how long workers have taken off to recover from workplace incidents. When you look at those numbers, Amazon says the data shows it has made significant progress in recent years.

“The safety and health of our employees is, and always will be, our top priority, and any claim otherwise is inaccurate. It’s unsurprising that a self-interested group like this would work to twist the facts to paint an inaccurate picture. While we know we have more work to do, the truth is clearly outlined in our safety report and we encourage anyone to both tour our facilities and read our safety report,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Natel told Engadget. “That report shows that since 2019, the recordable injury rate across our network has dropped more than 23 percent and the lost time injury rate has dropped more than 53 percent. We’re proud the progress made by our team and we’ll continue working hard together to keep getting better every day.”

At the end of March, the Italian Data Protection Authority (the "Garante"), announced that OpenAI's fancy new ChatGPT software would imminently be blocked from use within the European nation over concerns that ChatGPT's training and function violate the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On Wednesday, the Garante published a list of necessary steps OpenAI will have to take by the end of April if Italy is to lift its temporary limitation on the processing of its user data.

"OpenAI will have to draft and make available, on its website, an information notice describing the arrangements and logic of the data processing required for the operation of ChatGPT along with the rights afforded to data subjects," the Garante announced. Additionally, Italian users must be shown said notice and will have to declare that they are over the age of 18 prior to the completion of their registrations. What's more, the company will be required to age gate the site to filter out users under the age of 18 by the end of September. 

The Garante is also demanding that the company enact "easily accessible tools to allow non-users to exercise their right to object to the processing of their personal data," per Wednesday's release. "The same right will have to be afforded to users if legitimate interest is chosen as the legal basis for processing their data."

Finally, OpenAI must by May, 31st run "through radio, TV, newspapers and the Internet" an ad campaign informing the public about their data collection methods and how Italians' personal information will be used to train the company's algorithms. In all, OpenAI has just 18 days to get all of its regulatory ducks in a row before the regulator implements additional penalties.

Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) released the full schedule for its return to in-person activities for 2023. The charity speed-running event takes place in Minneapolis from May 28th to June 4th. This year, the organizers added a slew of Zelda runs in honor of the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom, which gamers will spend countless hours exploring beginning next month. Of course, the event will stream live on Twitch for those who can’t make it to Minnesota.

The full schedule starts with a pre-show followed by a Sonic Frontiers run on May 28th and wraps up with a Super Metroid run and an unknown finale on June 3rd. The last day also includes Elden Ring and a blindfolded run of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sightless speed runs have been a popular GDQ mainstay, with previous years including memorable blindfolded play-throughs of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and Super Mario 64.

Other Zelda games in the SGDQ 2023 lineup include The Minish Cap (Switch) on May 28th, A Link Between Worlds (3DS) on May 29th, Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 64) on May 31st, Twilight Princess (GameCube) on June 1st and Four Swords (Game Boy Advance) on June 2nd. The Zelda franchise should be frontmost on the minds of many gamers during this year’s event as the latest installment, Tears of the Kingdom, launches on May 12th.

Nintendo

If big-name series aren’t your thing, the 2023 event will include plenty of cult-classic and oddball runs. For example, you can tune into Hobo Cat Adventures on June 1st, Choo-Choo Charles on May 31st and the NES adventure Maniac Mansion on May 30th. (And you won’t want to miss Give Me Toilet Paper! on June 1st.) You can read the full schedule for many more runs, including Hitman 3, GTA: San Andreas and Super Mario Odyssey.

It should be lighthearted fun for a terrific cause, as 100 percent of all donations go to Doctors Without Borders. The event typically raises millions of dollars for the charity, which provides medical and humanitarian care to people in over 70 countries affected by crises like war, natural disasters and epidemics. In its return as an in-person event, attendees must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wear a KN95 / N95 / KF94 mask. You can register to attend on the organization’s website.

Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox system update with an emphasis on the search experience. The company has completely redesigned the console's search page, giving it a “sleek new look” complete with gallery-style results, easily identifiable filter categories and an updated navigation interface that relies on the left and right bumpers.

These improvements to search extend beyond simply perusing your game library or even looking for new titles to buy. There is now an option to search on YouTube within the Movies and TV tab, among other new ways to find stuff to watch. Once updated, you can access the refined search experience by tapping the search button on top of the dashboard or by pressing Y on your controller within the console UI.

The system update also brings a new power-saving mode to better integrate with the recently launched ‘carbon aware’ feature. You can now adjust power settings at any time within the settings menu and adjust the active hours, which means the hours you are most likely to be using the console. If you set your active hours to begin at 10AM, for instance, the console will be ready to wake up at that time. Otherwise, it will fully shut down to draw just 0.5 watts instead of 10 to 15 watts.

During active hours, the console will be ready to boot and will be accessible for remote game installs and the like. Once you update, the mode is set to “always active” so make changes to suit your preferences and schedule. The system update is rolling out now to all users. 

Soon, when you go to stream Succession or The Last of Us, you'll no longer be looking for an app called HBO Max. As has been rumored, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is changing the name of the streaming service to simply "Max." The company is folding content from Discovery+ into the platform to make it more of a one-stop shop, though Discovery+ will remain as a standalone service in the US.

The big switch will take place on May 23rd — almost exactly three years after HBO Max debuted. WBD previously said it would combine the streaming services sometime this spring. WBD CEO David Zaslav suggested during a press event that, in the coming months, Max will fold in sports and other live content. The company plans to add an average of more than 40 new titles and TV show seasons each month.

There will be three pricing tiers. An ad supported plan will cost $10 per month or $100 per year. It will allow users to stream HD video on two devices simultaneously.

The ad-free plan won't have an immediate price hike as it will remain $16 per month (or $150 per year) for the time being. WBD raised the price of that plan for the first time back in January. That also supports HD streaming on two devices simultaneously with up to 30 offline downloads.

There will also be an "ultimate ad-free" plan that costs $20 per month or $200 per year. That's the option you'll need to plump for it you want to stream shows and movies in 4K. It supports 4K UHD streams on up to four devices at once with up to 100 downloads for offline viewing.

WBD's presentation highlighted some of the content that's coming to Max, including a first look at The Penguin, an eight-episode miniseries that ties into The Batman. An It prequel called Welcome to Derry is on the way, as is a show based on The Conjuring and a Big Bang Theory follow-up series. 

Elsewhere, content that was in the works for Discovery+ will move over to Max, such as reality programming featuring Robert Downey Jr. and all-time great snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White. A docuseries featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes as they tour the US with a live version of their podcast, SmartLess, will drop on Max's launch day. Also coming to the platform on May 23rd is Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

There's some logical reasoning behind shortening the name to Max. It's now about more than HBO and nods toward a more expansive array of shows, movies and other content that's on offer. Executives were reportedly concerned that keeping HBO in the platform's name could weaken that brand if consumers associate it with all the content on the platform, such as the impending influx of reality shows from Discovery+.

However, the rebranding strips away the name value of HBO and the implied level of quality that has been associated with that brand for decades. Max is a bad, soulless name with zero identity of its own. 

Since WBD was formed as a result of a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery last year, the company's leadership has overhauled its streaming strategy in a bid to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Executives swung the ax on an array of HBO Max exclusives, reportedly in favor of tax breaks. WBD also removed several shows and many episodes of popular series from HBO Max. The company has started licensing out some of its programming to other platforms to add some extra revenue streams.

Developing...

You can now watch The Office in VR, as NBC Universal’s Peacock app is now available for the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headsets. In addition, the companies are partnering to give new Quest owners a free year of the streaming service.

The app brings content like Poker Face, Vanderpump Rules and (coming April 14th) Cocaine Bear to a giant screen in VR. Of course, live sports, including NFL and Major League Baseball games, are also included. Additionally, the app supports multitasking with multiple screens, and you can resize the content window — stretching all the way up to theater-sized.

The app launch and deal are part of a three-year partnership between Meta and NBC Universal, announced in October. Meta says it will also bring “experiences across a variety of NBCU IP, including Universal Monsters, Halloween Horror Nights and The Office to immersive environments like Horizon Worlds and Avatars Store.” For example, Meta’s Horizon Worlds (the company’s metaverse home base) will let you interact with virtual content from The Office later this year.

As for the deal, if you buy a new Meta Quest 2 or Meta Quest Pro headset between now and April 11, 2024, you can redeem a code for 12 months of Peacock Premium (usually $5 per month). Or, if you bought one of those headsets before April 11th, you’ll receive an offer for three free months. However, Peacock Premium still includes full ads; you’ll need Peacock Premium Plus, which costs an extra $5 monthly, for a plan with “fewer ads.” Quest owners with eligible accounts (at least 18 years old and living in the US or its territories) can watch for an email with a promo code and redemption link.

The Library of Congress has announced the latest batch of 25 recordings that are joining the National Recording Registry. There are many notable songs among the lineup, including “Like a Virgin,” "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Stairway To Heaven," and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Carl Sagan's reading of his book, Pale Blue Dot, is also being inducted. But there's one particular composition that's making its own slice of history, as Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. theme becomes the first piece of video game music to enter the registry.

The Mario overworld music, which is officially titled "Ground Theme," is "perhaps the most recognizable video game theme in history," according to the Library of Congress. It's hard to argue with that. Kondo (pictured above left) took inspiration from Japanese jazz fusion band T-Square and Latin music to create magic on the Nintendo Entertainment System's five-channel sound chip for the original 1985 game.

“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time,” Kondo told the Library of Congress. “I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen. We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short."

Kondo, who said it was an honor to have his work placed in the National Recording Registry, is still working for Nintendo. Most recently, you may have heard his work in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The Library of Congress houses millions of books, recordings, photos, newspapers, maps and manuscripts. For several years, it also attempted to archive every single tweet. So, you may find it comforting to know that the legendary Mario theme is now immortalized alongside a slapdash post about what you had for breakfast in 2011.

You no longer have to be a developer to see the benefit of an Android 14 preview. Google has released the first Android 14 beta, and there are a few slight but meaningful improvements for early adopters. Apps can now add custom actions and shortcuts to Android's share sheets. In other words, cross-app functionality should be considerably more powerful once enough software takes advantage of the feature.

You'll also see a "more prominent" back arrow in the gesture-based navigation interface. The arrow also complements your device theme or wallpaper. It's a minor touch, but it theoretically helps users understand how gestures work.

Additional upgrades are behind the scenes. Apps can now limit accessibility services' ability to see sensitive data. This prevents malicious services from peeking at information, and reduces the chances of performing critical actions by mistake. Android 14 Beta 1 also supports new vector-based visual effects in apps, such as interpolation and morphing.

Earlier Android 14 previews improved accessibility, battery life and security. There's also stronger support for foldable phones and tablets as well as regional personalization on a per-app basis.

You'll still need either Android Studio's emulator or a recent-enough Pixel device (the Pixel 4a and newer) to try the Android 14 beta. It's easier to install, however, as you now just have to enroll your Pixel in the Android Beta Program to download this and future updates. We still wouldn't use the beta on a mission-critical phone, but it's now reliable enough that you might want to try it on a secondary handset where glitches are tolerable.

Google may not have revealed everything there is to know about Android 14. It typically waits until its I/O conference in the spring to share the major feature sets for upcoming Android launches, and you won't see the first release candidates until June. The completed OS is likely to arrive late in the summer. Think of this as Google slowly drawing a curtain open — it's not quite ready for the full reveal.

This may be a good time to be a fan of Bethesda's game lineup. Sony has detailed the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium game catalog additions for April, and more than a few of them come from Bethesda studios like id Software and Arkane. Most notably, you'll find Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. These are no longer fresh games, but they're still some of the better-known first-person shooters in recent memory.

Other Bethesda titles bundled with the subscriptions include Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and the horror game The Evil Within. Not that you're stuck playing one publisher's games. The Pixar-like Kena: Bridge of Spirits is now available, as is the card battler/roguelike hybrid Slay the Spire and Ubisoft's extreme sports title Riders Republic. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is part of the package as well, although it's also available to Essential members.

PS Plus Premium members mostly get access to Bethesda classics. The first three Doom games and Doom 64 are included, as is Dishonored: Definitive Edition.

It's not all good news, unfortunately. Sony warns that Spider-Man, Resident Evil and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 are some of the games departing the catalog by May 15th. As much as PS Plus' library of games has expanded since Extra and Premium became available, the additions aren't always permanent.