Filming is underway on the first feature-length movie to be shot in space after Russian actor Yulia Sherepild and director Klim Shipenko docked at the International Space Station. Their movie, The Challenge, will feature around 35-40 minutes of scenes filmed on the space station, according to The New York Times. The film is about a surgeon (Sherepild) who goes on an emergency ISS mission to save the life of a cosmonaut (Shipenko).
The two cosmonauts who were already on the ISS captured a shot as Peresild (or her character) emerged from the capsule and entered the station. Sherepild and Shipenko will film scenes over the next couple of weeks before returning to Earth on October 17th.
Other projects have been filmed on the ISS, includingdocumentaries, virtual reality projects and a short called Apogee of Fear. Tom Cruise hoped to make the first feature film in space with the help of NASA and SpaceX, but the Russian team beat him to the punch. Russia's Roscosmos agency announced a plan to send an actor to the ISS soon after word emerged about Cruise's movie in May 2020.
Time will tell whether The Challenge is any good. Regardless, the creatives behind the project have carved out their own little slice of history.
If you turn to Facebook Gaming to watch other people play your favorite games, you’ll now see creators collaborate on joint streams. Facebook is introducing support for co-streaming. The feature allows up to four accounts to stream together concurrently. With today’s rollout, co-streaming is available to all content creators, not just those enrolled in Facebook’s partner program. You can access the functionality search for and tag other creators through the Live Producer left rail, in addition to the Gaming Tab and Stream Dashboard of the edit stream module.
“With co-streaming, we aim to increase discoverability for creators, encourage collaboration between creators and elevate the overall viewing experience for everyone,” the company said in a blog post. The addition of co-streaming support is a case of Facebook playing catch up. Twitch has offered similar functionality through its Squad Stream feature since 2019. It’s also worth pointing out the idea itself isn’t new. While it’s no longer around, OnLive introduced a multi-view feature back in 2012. All the same, it’s a significant addition for Facebook Gaming, particularly as it continues to try to compete with Twitch.
Instagram may have been down for hours, but it's back with an arguably overdue change to how the social network handles videos. The Facebook brand is merging its long-form IGTV format with the regular videos from your feed, leaving just one format for all Instagram footage — you won't have to distinguish between the two. We've asked Instagram if this will lead to longer videos playing directly in your feed, but there will always be a Video tab in profiles to explore more content.
The move might help Instagram-based creators, too. While they'll still have to produce long-form video to qualify for ads (now called Instagram In-Stream video ads), they should have an easier time reaching viewers who would have glossed over IGTV in the past. Instagram is also merging post and video insights into a single metric.
You may have an easier time polishing that video, too. Instagram is bringing a few common editing features to its videos, including trimming, filters, location tags and people tags. Still images have had filters and tags for a while, of course, but this theoretically puts moving pictures more on par. You may have an easier time finding videos linked to a friend or a memorable concert.
The merger could boost uptake for Instagram video. IGTV demand wasn't what Instagram expected, and this update makes the longer video format more accessible, not to mention less confusing. Creators might be more inclined to share videos on Instagram as a result — and that might help the social media giant better compete against TikTok, YouTube and other video-focused heavyweights.
I locked myself out of my apartment yesterday. It’s a rare occurrence, but when it does happen, I usually text my building’s WhatsApp group, begging someone to buzz me in. So it was not a great time for Facebook’s entire network, including WhatsApp, Instagram (oh and Oculus), to collapse for six hours.
While it’s unclear exactly what happened, during the downtime, the company’s outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Michael Schroepfer, said it was due to “networking issues.”
Even within Facebook, the issues reportedly led to employees being unable to access emails, Workplace and other tools. The New York Times reported that employees were also physically locked out of offices as workers’ badges stopped working. Poor Facebook.
By 6 PM ET yesterday, most of the services were back, though Facebook for Business Status page still showed "major disruptions" to core services. On Facebook — when it was back online — CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the services going down.
That didn’t help me with my low-priority problem. Fortunately, I gleaned some of my neighbor’s phone numbers from WhatsApp, and sent a few SMS SOSes, ‘00s style. Twenty minutes later, I was finally back in my home.
Windows 11 is almost here, and it is (generally) a solid step forward aesthetically from Windows 10. According to Devindra Hardawar, some of the changes may annoy long-time users. It’s a more secure OS as well, but that also means it’s more restrictive, hardware-wise, and potentially harder to upgrade. For those considering their options, we have a guide to exactly that.
Internal documents published by The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that Facebook allowed VIPs to break its rules, and it was aware Instagram affected the mental health of teens. Now, the whistleblower who brought that information to light has revealed herself as Frances Haugen in an interview with 60 Minutes.
"I’ve seen a bunch of social networks, and it was substantially worse at Facebook than what I had seen before," Haugen told the show. "Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety."
Haugen joined Facebook in 2019, working on democracy and misinformation issues, while also handling counter-espionage, according to a personal website and Twitter account she and her team set up. She worked as a Facebook product manager and left the company in May.
After decades of pretending to explore the universe in TV shows and movies, William Shatner is actually going to space. Blue Origin's second tourist spaceflight is scheduled for October 12th. Shatner, 90, is to become the oldest person to fly to space. He'll take the record from 82-year-old aviation pioneer, Wally Funk, who was a passenger on New Shepard's first crewed flight in July.
Apple has announced when you'll be able to snag an Apple Watch Series 7. Pre-orders start this Friday, October 8th, at 8 AM ET. The device, which starts at $399, will be available one week later on October 15th.
The biggest change this year is a larger, always-on display. Apple has bumped up the case size options to 41mm and 45mm while reducing the bezel to 1.7mm, meaning it should feel pretty similar to last-generation Watches, but with more screen. The user interface takes advantage of the larger screen, with a full, swipe-based QWERTY keyboard and two additional watch faces.
Facebook services seem to be slowly coming back online after one of the biggest outages in recent memory. Facebook, Instagram and Messenger’s apps appear to be working again, though the websites are loading more slowly than usual. Meanwhile, WhatsApp's website seems to be back, but the app is still having issues connecting.
As of 6:05pm ET Monday, the "Facebook for Business Status" page was still showing "major disruptions," to the social network's core services. But that was still an improvement from earlier in the day when the website was offline entirely.
Facebook didn’t immediately comment or elaborate on the cause of the outage. In an earlier tweet, the company’s outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Michael Schroepfer, cited “networking issues.”
*Sincere* apologies to everyone impacted by outages of Facebook powered services right now. We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible
The outage lasted more than six hours, taking down Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus. It also wreaked havoc on the company internally, with employees reportedly unable to access emails, Workplace and other tools. The New York Timesreported that employees were also physically locked out of offices as workers’ badges stopped working.
It also shaved billions of dollars off of Mark Zuckerberg’s personal net worth as Facebook’s stock tanked, Bloomberg reported. Elsewhere, the company is still reeling from the fallout of a whistleblower who has accused the company of prioritizing “profits over safety.” The whistleblower was The Wall Street Journal’s primary source for several articles that details how Instagram is harmful to teens and the company’s controversial “cross check” program that allows high profile users to break its rules.
Sony is bringing some major games to PlayStation Now this month, and they don't get much bigger than The Last of Us Part II. The latest entry in Naughty Dog's don't-call-them-zombies, post-apocalypse saga arrived in June 2020 and if it weren't for Hades, it might have swept all of the 2020 game of the year awards. The Last of Us Part II is excellent, but don't go into it expecting a relaxing day at the beach.
Also hitting PS Now is Fallout 76, a multiplayer entry in Microsoft-owned Bethesda's Fallout series. The rest of this month's additions are Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, Desperados III, Amnesia: Collection, Yet Another Zombie Defense and Victor Vran: Overkill Edition.
All of these games will hit PS Now on October 5th. The Last of Us Part II, which you'll be able to play on PC through the service,will be available to subscribers until January 3rd.
If you're not interested in signing up for PS Now but still want to check out TLOU2, the game's currently on sale on the PlayStation Store. Sony has discounted hundreds of other titles as part of the Blockbuster Games sale, including Returnal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Days Gone and God of War.
If you can't access Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp, you're not the only one. Starting at approximately 11:38AM ET, Downdetector began logging a spike in outage reports across all four Facebook-owned services. Andy Stone, a spokesperson for the company, said at 12:07PM ET that the company was working quickly to resolve the issue but didn't mention what was at the root of the problem. We've reached out to Facebook for more information on the outage.
We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
Back in April, Netflix released its Play Something feature for TV devices with the promise of making it available on mobile in the near future. If you've been waiting for it to make its way to your phone, you'll be thrilled to know that the time has come: The streaming giant's shuffle play functionality will start rolling out to all Android users around the world today.
Streaming services have such a wide variety of choices, which keep growing every day, that scrolling through them and deciding on what to play could take hours. If you don't have anything specific to watch at the moment, the Play Something feature could held you fend off decision paralysis and prevent you from wasting what little time you have to relax. Just tap it to watch something the service's algorithm thinks you might enjoy based on your history.
Netflix started testing the feature for both adult and kids' profiles on Android in May, and a spokesperson told us testing for iOS will begin in the coming months. According to the streaming giant, users have been loving its shuffle play function for leading them to hidden gems they might not have found otherwise. Of course, the opposite could also be true if it turns out that Netflix's algorithm doesn't know you at all.
You can find the floating Play Something button at different places within the app, including the home screen. If you're viewing the page of a specific show, a button that says Play Something Else will show up. Patrick Flemming, Netflix's Director of Product Innovation, said in a statement:
"Play Something helps Netflix members discover new shows and movies when they don’t want to make decisions. Today, we're excited to bring this feature to Android, too - choosing what to watch on your phone has never been easier."
In addition, Netflix is launching Fast Laughs, its TikTok-style comedy feed that pulls funny clips from its catalog, for Android. Previously exclusive for iOS users, the feature will be available for Android in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Philippines and other select markets.
Internal documents published by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently revealed that Facebook allowed VIPs to break its rules and that it was aware of how Instagram affected the mental health of teens. Now, the whistleblower who brought that information to light has revealed herself as Frances Haugen in an interview with 60 Minutes, the New York Times has reported.
"I’ve seen a bunch of social networks and it was substantially worse at Facebook than what I had seen before," Haugen told the NYT. "Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety."
Haugen joined Facebook in 2019, working on democracy and misinformation issues, while also handling counterespionage, according to a personal website and Twitter account she and her team set up. She worked as a Facebook product manager and left the company in May.
She first brought "tens of thousands" of pages of internal Facebook documents to Whistleblower Aid founder John Tye, requesting legal protection and help in releasing the information. The trove included internal company research, slide decks, cover letters and more. She also filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accusing Facebook of taking internal actions that didn't match its public statements.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen is a data scientist from Iowa with a computer engineering degree and a Harvard MBA. She told us the only job she wanted at Facebook was to work against misinformation because she had lost a friend to online conspiracy theories. https://t.co/csgaRe6k5hpic.twitter.com/tSNav057As
In the SEC complaint, Haugen compared Facebook's internal research and documents to public statements and disclosures made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. In one example, she said that Facebook contributed to election misinformation and the January 6th US Capitol insurrection.
"Facebook has publicized its work to combat misinformation and violent extremism relating to the 2020 election and insurrection," she wrote in a cover letter on the subject. " In reality, Facebook knew its algorithms and platforms promoted this type of harmful content, and it failed to deploy internally recommended or lasting countermeasures."
On top of being in touch with the SEC's whistleblower office, which normally provides protections for corporate tipsters, she and her legal team contacted Senators Richard Blumenthal (D) and Marsha Blackburn (R). She also spoke to lawmakers in France and Britain, along with a member of the European parliament.
Facebook, which has struggled to quell leaks of late, preemptively pushed back ahead of the 60 Minutes interview, calling the accusations "misleading." VP for policy and global affairs Nick Clegg told CNN that Facebook represented "the good, the bad and the ugly of humanity" and that it was trying to "mitigate the bad, reduce it and amplify the good." He added that it was "ludicrous" to blame January 6th on social media.
In a statement to the New York Times, Facebook spokesperson Lena Pietsch said it was continuing "to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content. To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true." On Tuesday, December 5th, Haugen is set to testify in Congress about issues surrounding Facebook's impact on young users.
Classic '90s sitcom Seinfeldjust landed on Netflix after a six-year run on Hulu. Given that the show was filmed years before HD was a thing, it was originally displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio on TV (and the DVD sets that came years later). But on Netflix, the show has been cropped into a 16:9 widescreen format to fit on modern TVs. As noted by Rolling Stone, that means some visual gags have literally been erased.
Twitter users @boriskarkov and @Thatoneguy64 succinctly pointed out the problem with a specific episode called "The Pothole." In the episode, George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld are trying to find George's lost keys, which were dropped in a pothole that was then paved over. In a crop where George wildly yells at the pothole, the Netflix crop removes the pothole entirely. The 16:9 aspect ratio probably also cuts out some other gags in the series — or at the very least, it might be a jarring experience for people used to how the show originally looked.
Of course, this isn't a new problem. Crops of Seinfeld have been on cable TV for years, and Hulu also showed the series in 16:9, as well. Given Netflix's popularity, Seinfeld is getting lots of extra attention right now, and thus a bunch of new viewers are probably checking it out who might not have seen it on Hulu. A similar controversy happened in late 2019 when the entire run of The Simpsons hit Disney+. After plenty of complaints about missed visual gags, Disney eventually released the seasons that aired in 4:3 in their original aspect ratio. Hopefully Netflix will do the same thing with Seinfeld — but in the meantime, as with many classic shows, the most authentic way to watch them is probably on DVD.
