Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN), along with Rep. Susan DelBene (D-WA) introduced a bill today that would create a $20 million pilot program with the Department of Labor to incentivize states and cities to test out portable benefits. The idea that benefits like health insurance and paid vacation should be universal, rather than tied to your job, has gained steam in recent years. Such social insurance programs, normally backed by Democrats, have sparked interest from some Republicans motivated by the rapidly changing workforce and economic climate following the pandemic.

“More Americans than ever are engaging in part-time, contract or other alternative work arrangements. As the workforce changes, it is increasingly important that we provide workers with an ability to access more flexible benefits that can be carried to multiple jobs across a day, a year, and even a career,” said Sen. Warner in a statement.

Under the bill, the Department of Labor would create a $20 million grant fund to incentivize states, cities and nonprofits to experiment with portable benefits for independent workers. It’s not the first time Warner and DelBene have introduced such legislation. The duo has been regularly pushing to pass portable benefits bills since 2017 — none of which have gotten very far. One of their measures, to provide states with emergency unemployment benefits for gig workers, was folded into the CARES Act.

The bill gives states and cities a lot of room to figure out what their portable benefits program will look like. This could include unemployment benefits, life and disability insurance, sick leave, worker training and health insurance.

A number of states such as California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey and Colorado have looked at implementing portable benefits programs of their own. But critics of portable benefits warn that such a system would mean that gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft, Doordash and others would be largely off the hook. Indeed, Uber and other gig companies have backed portable benefits legislation in their fight to continue to classify their workers as independent contractors.

You can now catch up on episodes of Naruto or Tokyo Revengers on your Switch while waiting for the subway. The anime streaming platform Crunchyroll today unveiled an app for Nintendo's handheld console.

Using your Nintendo Switch to watch movies is still a relatively new concept (and not for those who already suffer from eye strain due to hours of gameplay), but one that’s taking off. There are currently Switch apps for Hulu, YouTube, Twitch Pokémon TV and Funimation. It’s fair to say we’ll likely see more entertainment offerings on the Switch soon, given its popularity. Nearly 103 million units of the Switch have been sold globally, surpassing its predecessor the Wii, Wii U, GameCube and Nintendo 64. Switch sales skyrocketed during the pandemic, leading to a global shortage that has carried over to 2022 and absurd price gouging.

The user base for Switch is considerably larger and more diverse than other game consoles (half of all Switch users are women and users tend to be older). But there are far fewer streaming options on Switch than other consoles, much to the chagrin of current owners.

While Crunchyroll is free, you’ll need to purchase one of its premium plans in order to stream shows on multiple devices or watch shows off-line. Plans start at $7.99 a month.

Peloton today launched Lanebreak, a new series of workouts that mimic a racing game for its connected stationary bike. Riders get behind a virtual wheel, race down a multi-lane highway and gain points for higher levels of output and resistance. The fitness company briefly beta tested Lanebreak last July, and is now launching the new mode as a software update to all Peloton bikes in the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia.

Unlike the majority of other Peloton workouts, there’s no instructor on Lanebreak offering encouragement throughout the ride. Instead, riders can choose from a selection of different pop-centric playlists to listen to in the background, featuring the likes of David Guetta, David Bowie, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran.

For Peloton riders who are bored with the usual slate of instructor-led classes, Lanebreak adds a change of pace. It’s also the first new program that the fitness company has added to their fitness library in a while, following a major expansion in 2020 that included barre, yoga, pilates and strength training classes.

The fitness company, once a darling of the pandemic, has now run into financial woes due to a decline in demand. Earlier this month, Peloton replaced its CEO and laid-off roughly 20 percent of its workforce in an effort to streamline its expenses. But despite its struggles on Wall Street, Peloton's incredibly loyal customer base has a 96% one-year retention rate. The bikes are a large upfront investment, and few Peloton riders want the added hassle of reselling and moving their $1,495 bike. While it’s unlikely that Lanebreak will recruit new Peloton riders, it’ll add some variety to a fitness library that, for some seasoned riders, has become stale.

Spotify announced today that it is acquiring two major podcast ad tech firms, Chartable and Podsights, in a move to expand its offerings to advertisers. Both companies offer popular tools that help brands and agencies better understand the effectiveness of their podcast ads.

In a blog post announcing the acquisitions, Spotify laid out how both companies will expand its ad platform. With Podsights, advertisers will be able to see more detailed data on who clicked on an ad and what actions they took after the fact (i.e. if they purchased the actual product). “As part of Spotify, Podsights will be able to utilize Spotify’s technology and intelligence to bring more accurate measurement and actionable insights to podcast advertisers around the world,” wrote Spotify in its post.

The Chartable acquisition seems more geared towards podcast ads about podcasts. It's two promotional tools — SmartLinks and SmartPromos — will now be available to podcasters on Spotify. SmartPromos allows podcasters to see which ads are resulting in the most downloads and essentially measure the success of their ad campaigns. SmartLinks, according to Chartable’s website, are “shareable, trackable URLs that automatically route listeners to their podcasts”. The tool allows podcasters to track both clicks and downloads.

Spotify has invested heavily in expanding its podcast offerings over the past couple of years; both by locking high-profile creators into exclusivity deals and offering podcast advertisers more bang for their buck with more detailed analytics. The Chartable acquisition in particular will build on Megaphone’s offerings; another ad tech acquisition Spotify made in 2020.

These two acquisitions are likely to sweeten the pot for both advertisers and professional podcasters looking to join Spotify. If you’ve felt that podcast ads have become more numerous over the past couple of years or so, you’re not imagining things: Spotify has expanded its ad setup with in-app ads and pre-recorded ad slots that are tailored to your listening habits. "This latest deal seems positioned to make the platform a more attractive option for brands and advertisers, and to entice podcasters without a network or salespeople of their own into Spotify's walled garden."

Snapchat on Wednesday unveiled a new partnership with Ticketmaster that will make staying updated on shows and inviting friends a little bit easier. The in-app Mini — a sort of micro-app inside the Snapchat app — functions a little bit like a dating service and can curate a selection of local shows tailored to individual users' interests.

Users are first asked to take a small survey, which allows the app to compile a list of artists and events they might like. They can then swipe right or left depending on if the show sparks an interest, and see if any of their Snapchat friends also liked the event. Snap Maps will also display upcoming concerts and events that are nearby.

Snapchat’s popularity with the under-25 demographic gives it a unique advantage in the live music space. Snap Inc. had a recent boost in popularity, gaining 13 million new users in the last quarter of 2021. The platform has already gotten its feet wet in the music space, partnering with Universal Music Group last year to launch a music discovery tool. Snapchat rivals only TikTok as the Gen Z app of choice, but the latter has stood out with its ability to make both new and old songs go viral. Given that Snapchat’s strength lies in connecting people in more intimate networks, a tool that matches users to shows and allows them to invite friends makes more sense.

A lot is changing at ViacomCBS — which changed its name today to Paramount Global. In an investor presentation on Tuesday, the company announced that its streaming service, Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access), hit 32.8 million subscribers during the last quarter of 2021. It’s a notable milestone for the platform, placing it ahead of Peacock (9 million paid subscribers), as well as other smaller platforms like ESPN+ (17 million subscribers) and Discovery+ (20 million subscribers).

That growth seems to be leading the company to consolidate some of its streaming offerings, specifically the now 12-year-old Showtime Anywhere service. Existing Paramount+ subscribers will soon be able to watch Showtime on the app itself, albeit for an extra fee. Instead of paying for Showtime’s standalone streaming app (which is $10.99 a month), users can bundle Paramount and Showtime together, for either $12 a month, or $15 a month for the ad-free tier. “Within Paramount+, it will be seamless to sign up for Showtime, and easier than ever to discover great shows. You’ll be able to simply upgrade your Paramount+ subscription to a bundle that includes the Showtime service and then view all that content in a single user experience,” Tom Ryan, head of streaming at Paramount, said today.

While it’s unclear how badly the world needed another way to subscribe to Showtime (you can currently purchase access as an add-on service through Apple TV+, Hulu, Prime Video, SlingTV and virtually every other OTT platform), it’s not a bad deal for existing Paramount subscribers. A spokesperson for Paramount told Engadget there are currently no plans to sunset Showtime Anywhere.

Another lure for Paramount+ subscribers is that the app will soon be the exclusive home for all Paramount movies, beginning in 2024. It’s not a surprising move, given that all the streaming platforms are gobbling up exclusive content in order to gain an edge. Netflix’s growth rate is slowing, which may be a positive sign for the competition. But there’s no sure formula for success in streaming. Streaming subscribers are notoriously fickle, and having a hit show or two is not a guaranteed path to returning customers. The new exclusivity deal and bundle with Showtime at least ensures that Paramount+ will have a steady stream of new content to keep existing viewers happy.

You can count burger-flipping robots as one pandemic innovation that’s here to stay. White Castle announced today that it will be bringing Flippy 2, a robot chef that can essentially perform the same tasks as a team of fry cooks, to 100 more locations this year. This amounts to roughly a third of White Castle restaurants nationwide, so it’s likely Flippy may become a permanent addition to this burger chain’s workforce.

Last fall the burger chain first teamed up with Miso Robotics, the makers of Flippy, to launch a pilot program in its Chicagoland location. The company then unveiled Flippy 2, the latest iteration of the chef robot, back in November. Now it appears that the robot chef is ready for prime-time.

It’s unlikely the average White Castle patron will notice the new robots when they first arrive. Since Flippy 2 is designed to perform “back-of-the-house” kitchen functions, that’s where you’ll find them. The robot uses AI to identify the type of food (such as burgers, chicken fingers, or fries), picks it up, cooks it, puts it in its own fry basket and finally puts it in a hot holding area.

But it’s possible your White Castle order may come out slightly faster than usual. Flippy 2 can dole out 60 baskets of food an hour, according to Miso Robotics’ website, or roughly 300 burgers a day. Unlike the earlier model, Flippy 2 can operate entirely without human intervention.

Miso Robotics is primarily crowdfunded; the company raised more than $50 million with more than 15,000 investors and is currently in its Series E funding round.

It’s no secret we’re in the middle of an AI-enabled cooking revolution. Miso Robotics has come out with a wing-making version of Flippy which Buffalo Wild Wings is currently testing, according to CNBC. Since robots also minimize human contact in the kitchen, they’re also used as a pandemic safety measure. Beijing is even using robot chefs to feed athletes and guests in its closed Winter Olympics bubble. It’s likely we’ll see more robotic innovations popping up in the restaurant industry, especially given recent labor shortages.

Uber and Lyft drivers in New York City are about to get a boost in their paychecks. Last week NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would increase its minimum driver pay rate for both Uber and Lyft, the second such move since 2018. Both ride hail apps will have to pay their NYC drivers a minimum of $1.161 per mile and $0.529 per minute, which amounts to roughly a 5.3 percent raise.

It’s the first bit of good news for gig workers in one of the world’s most expensive cities in a while. NYC ride hail drivers have spent the past few years fighting for the right to unionize, which would allow them to bargain for better pay and workplace benefits. However, a union has yet to materialize despite numerous protests.

“Uber, Lyft, and Via drivers are part of the largest private sector workforces in the state. They are the anchor in many neighborhoods and are majority immigrants of color working to transition out of poverty," said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a group that represents ride hail and taxi drivers in the city, in a statement. "We all know the price of basic needs, like bread and milk, have gone up, and, for drivers, so have operating costs, like fuel and repairs. This 5.3 percent raise will help thousands of families find security and give many the chance to live under better conditions.”

The policy will go into effect on March 1, and impact an estimated 90,000 drivers in New York City, according to NY 1.

The NYC raise is the latest victory in a global effort to improve the livelihoods of gig economy drivers. Uber and Lyft are currently locked in a battle in Massachusetts and California over its classification of drivers as “independent contractors”, a label which frees both companies from paying drivers minimum wage, overtime, and other benefits. Last August a judge ruled that a California ballot measure that classified ride-hailing drivers as contractors was unconstitutional, a decision that Uber and Lyft are appealing.

Google’s tradition of dropping little interactive games for holidays and special occasions shows no signs of stopping for Valentine’s Day 2022. Today’s doodle features two hamsters whose love knows no bounds – that is, except for the treacherous maze separating them that is in the shape of Google’s logo.

Your mission is to help these two crazy kids reunite by pulling a series of levers and switches until Google’s logo is complete. Is this game as difficult as today’s Wordle? Not even close. Will it take you roughly 30 seconds to complete, maybe even a minute if you’re half-paying attention because you’re watching the Super Bowl? Most likely. But the good news is, it’s a cute distraction that will get you into the Valentine’s Day spirit and is appropriate for kids.

If you want more, be sure to check out Google’s other doodle games. There’s a particularly fun one involving pizza, Pac-Man, one where you try to draw something before Google’s neural network outsmarts you and one where you assist a cat with a magic wand take down some nocturnal spirits. Incredible.

You can play Google’s Valentine’s Day doodle by visiting its homepage, and you can see all of Google’s past doodles here.

Have you ever typed out an NSFW word (or two or five) on Wordle in a fit of frustration? Well, it’s time for you to get your verbal recall skills out of the gutter. The New York Times has yanked a handful of gendered slurs from Wordle’s internal dictionary, reported Polygon on Friday. The words “bitch”, “whore” and “sluts” have been removed from the game’s word list.

In other words, (no pun intended) typing out any one of these terms will have the same effect as if you type out a string of random letters like “asjfk” or “jkjkj”: a grey box will appear with the phrase “not in word list” — and you’ll feel dumb. And for what it's worth, none of these expunged words have been solutions to prior Wordle puzzles, and there's not much reason to believe they ever would have been in the future.

Not every profane term or curse word has been scrubbed off Wordle’s list as of yet. According to Engadget's research, a number of slang terms for genitalia as well as some run-of-the-mill curses still pass muster. 

But given the Grey Lady’s avoidance of bad language in both its news coverage and crosswords, it may just be a matter of time. One thing that is certain, however, is this: you’ll never see a winning word in TheNew York Times version of Wordle that you couldn’t use in front of your grandmother. “Offensive words will always be omitted from consideration,” a Times spokesperson told Polygon.

The viral game created by developer Josh Wardle for his partner was purchased by the Times for a seven-figure amount late last month. Wordle just migrated to the Time’s website yesterday, and there have been a couple of hiccups. Some have noticed that their Wordle game statistics haven’t automatically transferred over, as the Times promised. Other people have opinions on the new, NYT-like game interface and the likelihood that the game may soon be under the newspaper’s paywall (though it remains free for now).

If you’re a naturally vulgar-minded person, don’t despair. There’s always Lewdle, Wordle’s X-rated cousin.