The metaverse isn't really a new concept. In his Galaxy Brain newsletter, Warzel chats with Wagner James Au, journalist and author who was offered the chance to be a reporter embedded inside Second Life. He speaks to both the history and future of digital communities with hope and criticism.
The golden age of video games is about more than finding time to play them all. It's also about finding the time to actually finish them. And if you're spending more time in a certain universe, you might be willing to spend more money there.
California's new online privacy regulator is the first agency of its kind in the US. The Times speaks with its leader Ashkan Soltani about how he's creating what's "easily the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life, but also I think potentially the most impactful."
As the temperatures rise and we begin to emerge from our winter cocoons, the amount of time we spend on porches, patios or in the backyard is about to dramatically increase. Ditto for the desire to entertain friends and family with your outdoor culinary skills. Since your grill has likely been dormant for a while, or used less frequently, it’s time to give your gear a thorough cleaning before you start to use it regularly again. Even if you’ve been keeping the grill going year-round, spring is a great time to do a deep clean before prime season starts. Here are a few tips and tricks that will hopefully make things easier.
Disassemble, scrub, reassemble
Billy Steele/Engadget
A good rule of thumb when it comes to cleaning anything you haven’t used in a while is to take it apart as much as you feel comfortable and give it a thorough wipe down. For grills, this means removing the grates and any bars or burner covers – basically, anything you can take out that’s not the heating element. This gives you a chance to inspect the burners of your gas grill or the fire pot of a pellet model for any unsightly wear and tear. If those components are worn out or overly rusted, most companies offer replacements that you can easily swap out with a few basic tools.
Once all the pieces are out, start by scraping excess debris off all sides of the interior – with the help of some cleaner if needed. For a gas grill, this likely means pushing everything out through the grease trap. On a pellet grill, you’ll want to scrape the grease chute clear and out into the catch can, but you’ll also need to vacuum the interior with a shop vac – just like you would after every few hours of use. And while you’re at it, go ahead and empty the hopper of any old pellets that have been sitting since labor day. Fuel that’s been sitting in the grill for months won’t give you the best results when it comes time to cook so you might as well start fresh.
You’ll want to get as much of the food leftovers out of your grill as possible for a few reasons. First, that stuff is old and lots of build-up over time can hinder cooking performance and might impact flavor. The last thing you want is old food or grease burning off right under an expensive ribeye. Second, in the case of pellet grills, not properly clearing out grease and dust can be dangerous. It’s easy for grease fires to start at searing temperatures and if there’s enough pellet dust in the bottom of your grill, it can actually ignite or explode. That’s why companies tell you to vacuum it out after every few hours of use.
All of that dust, grease and debris should be removed before you fire the grill back up.
Billy Steele/Engadget
To actually clean the surfaces, you’ll want to get an all-natural grill cleaner. There are tons of options here, and it may take some time to find one you like. I typically use Traeger’s formula since it’s readily available at the places I buy pellets and I’ve found it works well cutting through stuck-on muck. You want an all-natural grill cleaner over a regular household product as it’s safe to use on surfaces that will touch your food. They’re also safe to use on the exterior of your grill without doing any damage to chrome, stainless steel or any other materials.
Spray down the inside and give things a few minutes to work. Wipe it all clean and go back over any super dirty spots as needed. Ditto for the grates, bars and any other pieces you removed. I like to lay these out on a yard waste trash bag (they’re bigger than kitchen bags) so all the stuff I scrape or clean off doesn’t get all over my deck. You can use shop towels if you want to recycle or paper towels if not, but just know whatever you choose will be covered in nasty black grime so you won’t want to just toss them in the clothes washer when you’re done. A pre-wash in a bucket or sink is needed to make sure you don’t transfer gunk from your grill to your business casuals.
In terms of tools, you don’t need much. I’ve tried that grill robot that claims to do the job for you, but I’ve found sticking to the basics is more efficient. And honestly, when you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take all that long. It’s a good idea to have a wire brush specifically for the grates that you don’t use to clean anything else. After all, this will be touching the same surfaces you put food on. I recommend another, smaller wire brush – the ones that look like big toothbrushes – for cleaning the burners on a gas grill. If you notice the flame isn’t firing through one of the holes, you can use this to clean the pathway. Lastly, plastic is the way to go for a scraper, anything else and you risk scratching the surfaces of your grill. Sure, any damage done would be on the inside, but it’s still not a great feeling to knick up your previous investment.
Check for updates before your first cook
Traeger
If you have a smart grill from the likes of Traeger, Weber or another company, you’ll want to plug it in and check for software updates well in advance of your first grilling session. Chances are you haven’t cooked much since last fall, which means companies have had months to push updates to their devices. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than spending an hour trimming and seasoning a brisket only to walk outside to start the grill and it immediately launches into the update process. This could extend the whole cooking time significantly depending on the extent of the firmware additions and strength of your WiFi.
Thankfully, checking for updates is quick and easy. All you need to do is turn on your grill and open up the company’s app on your phone. If there’s a download ready for your model, the mobile software will let you know and it’s usually quite prominent. If there’s not a pop-up alert that displays immediately, you can check the settings menu just to make sure. Sometimes for smaller updates, a company might not beat you over the head to refresh. However, starting a fresh slate of firmware is always a safe bet and will ensure your grill is running at its best when it comes time to cook.
For a good time every time, clean after each use
Billy Steele/Engadget
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t adhere to my own advice here, but it’s nice to have goals. I will also be the first to tell you every single time I smoke a Boston Butt or some other super fatty cut of meat that I wish I would’ve done at least a quick cleaning right after the meal. Grease buildup is not only highly flammable but it’s much harder to clean once it cools and solidifies. Ditto for stuck-on sauce or cheese that’s left on your grates after chicken or burgers. It’s best to attack these things while the grill is still warm, but cooled down from the cook.
You don’t necessarily have to break out the shop vac each time for your pellet grill or empty the grease bin. But you’ll want to make sure that stuff is away from the main cooking area for safety and so any burn off won’t impact the flavor of your food. A few cups of hot water can cleanse the grease run-off while that wire brush I mentioned is best for the grates. It also doesn’t hurt to do a light wipe down with an all-natural cleaner so everything is ready to go when you want to cook again.
TV broadcasters are trying all sorts of new tactics to spice up live coverage, including some truly wild things for sports. The NFL made games kid friendly with Nickelodeon-style slime cannons, for example. For tonight's NBA matchup between the Mavericks and Nets, ESPN is trying something with more universal appeal. The network says that for the first time ever, 3D volumetric video will be used for a live full-game broadcast.
The project is the result of a collaboration between ESPN Edge, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution (DMED) Technology teams, the NBA and Canon. The experimental setup uses Canon's Free-Viewpoint Video (FVV) system with over 100 data capture cameras positioned around the basketball court. The result is a live sports broadcast merged with multi-dimensional footage — something that looks very much like you're watching a real-life video game.
While ESPN says this is the first time the technology has been used for a full live production of a sporting event, it has been used before. With their “Netaverse," the Brooklyn Nets — in collaboration with the NBA, Canon and the YES Network — have used the dimensional footage for replay clips and other post-production content. The Nets are also the first team from any of the four major US pro leagues to utilize the system, first capturing game action with it in mid-January. The clips you see here are from early use of the system, but ESPN said it worked with DMED Technology to build on top of what Canon, the NBA, the Nets and YES had done, making several enhancements so it worked better for live games. The still image above doesn't really do this justice, so you really need to see the video clips, even in their early form, to get a real sense of what this looks like.
Six separate feeds are sent to ESPN's control room in Bristol, CT, essentially offering six virtual cameras that are each able to move in three dimensional space to any spot on or around the court. Each feed has a dedicated "camera" operator who controls the view. The alternate broadcast will also have its own production team, as well has dedicated commentators, piping in the natural arena audio from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. ESPN says the broadcast isn't totally reliant on volumetric video as it can integrate traditional cameras, replays and other content into the 3D environment via a rendered version of the jumbotron.
Last April, ESPN offered an alternate Marvel-themed "Arena of Heroes" broadcast during an NBA game. While that bent more towards the cartoony aspect of video games, tonight's effort is more about showing the action with a immersive dimensional quality. The network says the experiment shows new ways emerging technology can be used to offer something beyond what we're used to seeing on TV, expanding what's possible for production in the future.
The alternate broadcast will be available on ESPN+ and ESPNEWS when the Mavericks and Nets tip off at 7:30PM ET tonight.
When Audio-Technica introduced its latest true wireless earbuds last month, the company only shared UK and EU pricing and availability. Starting today though, you can purchase the lost-lasting ATH-CKS50TW model in the US. For $149, you can expect up to 20 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation (ANC) disabled, and up to 15 hours with it on. That's well beyond what most of the competition offers — with or without noise canceling abilities.
The IPX4-rated ATH-CKS50TW supports multipoint Bluetooth pairing, so you can be connected to two devices at once and easily switch between the two. On-board controls give you quick access to music, volume, calls and enabling ANC or transparency mode. A handy sidetone feature will allow you to hear yourself during calls so you don't feel the need to shout.
Inside Audio-Technica's app, you can turn on a low-latency mode for streaming or games, adjust the EQ, locate lost earbuds and change audio codecs. For that last item, aptX, aptX Adaptive, AAC and Sony 360 Reality Audio are all supported. Google Fast Pair is available for Android devices and a quick-charge feature will give you 90 minutes of use with a 10-minute rest inside the included case.
Collaborative playlists are a great way to built mixes with other users on Spotify, but until now you didn't have a ton of control over who could contribute to and see your work. Today, the streaming service is adding new levels of control for those playlists, allowing users to keep closer tabs on who has access to them — including the ability to share collaborative mixes with large public groups or keeping them private.
First, Spotify will give the playlist creator the ability to invite or remove users from collaborating. You will also be able to set collaborative playlists to private, so no one can listen to, search for or view those mixes except for the people you've given access. At any time you can add or remove who can work on playlists and who can follow them, and Spotify says all of the new controls will roll out starting this week.
Expanded controls for collaborative playlists follows Spotify's addition of a block feature back in November. Before last fall, you could block artists so they wouldn't pop up in the app, but blocking another user required submitting a request to customer service. Anyone you block will no longer be able to access your page, public playlists or see your listening activity. And of course, the move is reversible if you change your mind.
When it comes to getting Dolby Atmos in a soundbar that doesn't take up a ton of room in front of your television, and won't put a huge dent in your wallet, the Sonos Beam isn't the only option. Today, Polk Audio is adding another alternative to the fray with the MagniFi Mini AX. The compact home entertainment speaker measures just 14.5 inches wide (37 cm) but is still capable of handling Atmos and DTS:X audio. Plus, it comes bundled with a wireless subwoofer, something you'll have to pay extra for with the pricier Beam.
The MagniFi Mini AX packs five speakers inside that Polk says are capable of "deep bass, detailed highs and an expansive 3D soundstage" when paired with the sub. A 3D Audio Mode can upmix any standard content to virtualized 360-degree sound, complete with height channels. Like the Beam, this unit doesn't have upward-firing drivers. In terms of other features, VoiceAdjust works to improve speech clarity by leveraging the center driver to boost voices when active. You can also blend the low frequencies of the soundbar and sub with BassAdjust and Night Mode will reduce those tones (while increasing dialogue) to lessen the chances of waking someone.
WiFi connectivity gives you the option of AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Spotify Connect from a mobile device or computer. The MagniFi Mini AX connects to your TV with HDMI eARC/ARC or optical for older models. There's also an aux jack if you need it and on-board buttons for pairing the sub or any rear speakers. Up front, an OLED display illuminates to guide you before disappearing so it's not a distraction. Polk also says this soundbar is Roku TV Ready, so using it with those devices should be a breeze.
The MagniFi Mini AX will be available later this month for €479/£429 (US pricing TBA). While the soundbar comes with a wireless subwoofer, Polk offers a set of wireless rear satellite speakers to expand your surround sound setup for 5.1-channel audio. The SR2s are available for $170 (€199/£159).
Conference tournaments are over and the brackets are set. Sixty-eight teams on both the men’s and women’s sides are about to begin a nearly month-long journey that could culminate with them hoisting a National Championship trophy and cutting down the nets in either New Orleans or Minneapolis. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for basketball fans, and all of the March Madness games are available to stream if you know where to look and have a TV provider log-in to unlock full access. Even if you don’t, there are some options so that you can catch a few games for free. Here’s what you need to know about streaming March Madness.
When does March Madness begin?
Emilee Chinn via Getty Images
Depending on who you ask, the 2022 NCAA Tournament either begins Tuesday or Thursday. On March 15 and 16, the First Four or four “play-in” games take place. These allow four more teams to “make the tournament” than if the selection committee just filled the slot with one in each spot. Some people argue the entire event doesn’t really start until Thursday and Friday, March 17 and 18, when the First Round officially tips off.
No matter which side you land on, the First Four games will start at 6:40PM ET each night on truTV while Thursday and Friday games begin at 12:15PM ET with the first game on CBS. The latter two days are the busiest and some of the most popular of the tournament as 16 games take place on each. Yes, these are two of the least productive days of the entire year in the US. Action continues with the Second Round on Saturday and Sunday, March 19 and 20, before a break until next Thursday. This is when the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds are played over the course of the second four-day weekend of the tournament. The Final Four is set for Saturday, April 2 while the National Championship Game will go down on Monday, April 4.
How to stream the 2022 Men’s NCAA Tournament
WarnerMedia
Unlike during the regular season when you need to know which network your team’s conference has a broadcast deal with to find most of the games, Turner Sports holds the rights to the entire Men’s NCAA Tournament. This means you’ll be able to watch all 67 games, including the First Four, on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. If you have cable, you’re all set. If you pay for a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV or Hulu, you’re also in good shape. If you don’t have either, don’t worry, you can still watch a good chunk of the tournament.
Turner Sports will allow anyone to watch the games that are broadcast on CBS on the web and mobile devices without a TV provider log-in. Paramount+ users will be able to do the same through that streaming app. If you do have credentials from your TV plan, you can stream everything through the March Madness Live app that’s available on a host of devices. You can find it on Amazon, Android and iOS for mobile and macOS on the desktop. For streaming gadgets, it’s on Apple TV, Fire TV, Google TV, Roku and Xbox and the app also supports some LG smart TVs.
NCAA March Madness Live app multi-game stream.
WarnerMedia
With some of those home entertainment devices, Turner will give you a very handy feature. On Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV and Xbox One, the March Madness Live app will allow you to stream two games at once. Sure, in an ideal world we would get the ability to stream up to four like ESPN’s app goes on an everyday basis, but two is certainly better than one. If you opt for the desktop, mobile or tablet versions, you’ll get picture-in-picture viewing while you browse away from the main game view.
You can certainly use your cable interface or streaming TV service of choice, but Turner has made March Madness Live a centralized hub for the tournament. If you have log-in credentials that get you access to everything, using those will allow you to jump from game to game much faster than scrolling through a guide. And Turner also gives you all of the alerts and stats you could ask for, including the ability to easily follow picks from your bracket if you filled it out on NCAA.com.
Streaming the 2022 Women’s NCAA Tournament
Elsa via Getty Images
As if one National Championship tournament in March wasn’t enough, the Women’s edition takes place at the same time. It’s March Madness, after all. The First Four is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, March 16 and 17, with the First and Second rounds playing out between Friday, March 18 and Monday, March 21. Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8 runs Friday to Monday again, starting March 25, and the Final Four and National Championship Game are set for April 1 and 3.
If you notice there are some scheduling differences so that there are only women’s games on Mondays and both the Final Four and championship are slotted between the same events for the men. So when it comes down to crunch time, you can watch the conclusion of both tournaments live without having to sacrifice viewing the other.
ESPN has the rights to the Women’s NCAA Tournament, so you can expect games to show up on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS. The first two of the First Four games will be broadcast on ESPNU at 7PM ET and 9PM ET each night. First Round matchups begin at 11:30AM ET on Friday and Saturday on ESPN2, with subsequent games on those days expanding to the other networks.
Once again, if you have a cable plan or streaming TV service with Disney’s sports channels you’re all set. However, the best place to watch all of the action will be the ESPN app. Here, you’ll get access to the aforementioned Multicast feature that will give you up to four games at once. It will be especially handy during those first four days of the tournament when there’s lots of action happening at the same time. However, it's only available on Apple TV and Xbox One.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is playing out over social media, with varying degrees of facts depending on who is delivering the information. Through the lens of previous conflicts, Tiffany examines if the label of "The First TikTok War" is accurate for current world events based on the platform's design or if that moniker even matters. "If something is new, then maybe it can be different," she writes. "But to look for that difference in the offerings of a technology company is obviously sad and misguided."
A game that was made in rebellion against commercial titles showed a more artistic side. Designed to "hit you right in the feels," as Gordon writes, Journey kicked violence and point totals to the curb. These days a creative approach that can impact you like a good book is more commonplace, but video games with such an emotional effect didn't really exist back then.
California-based startup Inversion thinks it can expedite deliveries of goods around the world by dropping them from space. The current plan is to develop a capsule by 2025 that's not much larger than a few carry-on suitcases and capable of doing the job.
Bowers & Wilkins is no stranger to soundbars, but the company's lineup over the years was missing one key feature: Dolby Atmos. Across two Panorama models and the Formation Bar, the immersive audio format wasn't yet supported by the company's soundbars. It's changing that today with the Panorama 3: a $999 all-in-one model that features up-firing drivers for Atmos alongside a host of other handy features for music and movies.
Inside the low-profile angular design, a collection of 13 drivers harness 400 watts of total output in 3.1.2-channel configuration. That includes three tweeters, six mid-range, two subwoofers and two up-firing units. The company says that this combination allows the Panorama 3 to function as a standalone setup with "room-filling sound." In other words, Bowers & Wilkins doesn't think you'll need a dedicated wireless subwoofer parked adjacent to the soundbar, similarly to how Sennheiser designed its pricey Ambeo model.
Bowers & Wilkins
The Panorama 3 connects to your TV via a single HDMI eARC jack, or for older displays, there's an optical port as well. An Ethernet connection provides wired internet while AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect offer wireless control for music via your phone or other devices. The Panorama 3 supports aptX Adaptive, AAC and SBC codecs when it comes to Bluetooth audio and the company's app pipes in tunes from Deezer, Last.fm, Qobuz, Soundcloud, Tidal and TuneIn. Support for more streaming services is on the way, according to Bowers & Wilkins.
The company also says multi-room audio will arrive "shortly after launch" which will allow you to use the Panorama 3 in unison with other Bowers & Wilkins speakers around your home. This soundbar has Alexa built-in for voice control or you can reach for the "hidden until lit" capacitive touch buttons on the top of the speaker itself if the remote (or your phone) isn't nearby.
The Panorama 3 is available starting today for $999. That may seem like a lot, and it is certainly a big investment, but that price is a few hundred less than the current flagship Atmos soundbar from Sony.
Sennheiser's Ambeo soundbar is a big and impressive all-in-one Dolby Atmos option, but it also carries a $2,500 price tag. That's almost double compared to most other flagship Atmos models from the competition. However, the company says it's working on more affordable Ambeo soundbars that offer similar performance. At an event this week primarily focused on its new IE 600 in-ears and overall strategy under Sonova, the new owner of Sennheiser's consumer business, the company teased new Ambeo soundbars that should debut later this year.
"Our plan in the future is to bring this technology into those price points here the competition is playing," Sennheiser's director of portfolio management Stefan Krämer explained. Reading between the lines, this would likely mean at least one new Ambeo model should clock in around $1,000 as that's where much of the Dolby Atmos-equipped competition resides. He also said we can "expect a very similar experience" to the model that debuted in 2019.
The company says it's also working on a third-generation version of its flagship Momentum True Wireless earbuds. Details are scarce here, but we won't have to wait long to get more info. Krämer said that model will debut next month during this week's event. It should offer most, if not all, of the bells and whistles you expect in a set of premium true wireless earbuds. The company did say that there will be a new design and "next level ANC" (active noise cancellation) in addition to great audio performance. Previous Momentum True Wireless models debuted at $300, but offered some of the best sound quality of any buds we've tested.
