Don't panic if you can't play The Joe Rogan Experience or other podcasts on Spotify. The streaming service has confirmed to Engadget that a "technical issue" is preventing users from playing a number of Spotify podcasts, including Joe Rogan's and The Ringer shows like The Bill Simmons Podcast. The company didn't elaborate on what went wrong, but the shows are frequently missing.

Spotify didn't say exactly when the podcasts would be available again. The issue should be "resolved soon," according to a spokesperson. Some users have already reported shows returning.

The timing is less than ideal for Spotify, to put it mildly. The glitch comes soon after a controversy over misinformation in Spotify's podcasts. Rogan in particular has been accused of spreading and tolerating false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, including guest Dr. Robert Malone's unsupported claims that a "psychosis" led many people to get shots. Artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash pulled their music from Spotify in protest, while doctors and scientists have called on the service to create a misinformation policy.

Spotify has so far resisted demands to pull episodes or shows. Chief executive Daniel Ek has promised a number of changes, such as content advisories for episodes discussing COVID-19, but has maintained that allowing misinformation promoted critical thinking and debate. This clearly didn't reassure users — it wasn't hard to find people worrying Spotify had pulled Rogan's shows despite past promises.

Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi service should now a regular sight in China's biggest population hubs. Gizmodo and state-owned China Daily report the tech firm has introduced Apollo Go to Shenzhen's Nanshan District, making self-driving taxis available in every 'first-tier' Chinese city following rollouts in six cities that include Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The launch covers one of the most densely populated regions in southern China (Shenzhen's total population tops 13 million), and offers autonomous rides on the home soil of local tech industry heavyweights like Huawei and Tencent.

The initial robotaxi service is available through Baidu's Apollo Go app at 50 stations between 9AM and 5PM. The initial focus is on "high-frequency" transport arteries, including Shenzhen Talent Park and the surrounding area. Baidu plans to expand coverage to more than 300 stations by the end of 2022.

Apollo Go is far from ubiquitous at this stage. Baidu expects to serve 65 cities by 2025, and won't reach 100 cities until 2030. It also faces growing competition from rivals like AutoX, which also offers self-driving rides to the public. Even so, this represents one of the largest real-world robotaxi deployments. Waymo's One service is only generally available in parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area, while GM's Cruise just recently began offering limited public rides in San Francisco. Baidu is ahead of the curve, and it's just a question of whether or not the company can sustain that advantage.

Kickstarter's plan to create a decentralized crowdfunding platform ran into more than a little criticism, and the company is eager to reassure jittery users. The firm has clarified how it will develop the blockchain-based system, with promises it would take input along the way. To start, Kickstarter said it was "not going to force" a decentralized system on the community without testing it. It would ensure a "proof of concept" existed for those creators who wanted to try it, and would only integrate those parts that "offer value" in light of community input.

To that end, Kickstarter promised to form an advisory council that will shape feature development, including the decentralized protocol. The council would include a wide range of users and participants.

The crowdfunding firm also noted that work on the platform would occur through a Public Benefit Corporation, and that it would ensure the necessary blockchain wasn't harmful to the environment. The team-up was already known to be using the "carbon-negative" Celo chain.

Kickstarter unveiled the plans in December in hopes of bringing crowdfunding to many platforms beyond its own. As Mashablenotes, the company soon faced a backlash over several issues. Critics were not only worried about the high energy consumption that often comes with blockchain-based transactions, but that Kickstarter was tarnishing its reputation by tying itself to the technology behind scam-prone NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Some veteran creators, such as Doctor Popular, vowed to either stop backing projects or host their own projects elsewhere.

The clarification might reassure users worried they would have to move to the blockchain just to buy or fund a hot new product. However, the response also follows two months after the uproar began. That's a long time to leave users wondering about certain issues, and it's not guaranteed disaffected users will come back.

You might be used to pinning text conversations on your phone, and now you can pin your Twitter chats in much the same way. Twitter's DM conversation pinning is now available to everyone on Android, iOS and the web without requiring a Blue subscription. The functionality is familiar — on mobile, you just have to slide a favorite conversation to the right and tap button to float it to the top of your inbox. You can pin up to six threads this way.

The expansion comes just a few months after DM conversation pins came to Blue users in November 2021. Not that it's a shock, however. Twitter said it would use Blue to offer early access to features, and DM pinning was one of the first.

This broader release mainly gives a rough sense of how long it might take for Blue-first features to reach a general audience. While the timing is likely to vary based on the feature, the wait for this DM upgrade might just line up with what you'd expect. The months-long interval may have helped Blue members justify their $3 monthly outlay, but it wasn't extreme.

Tesla's Model 3 has been Consumer Reports' top EV choice for the past two years, but the publication is ready to declare a new champion. CR has revealed that Ford's Mustang Mach-E has ousted the Model 3 as its EV Top Pick. The Mustang crossover is not only "more practical," according to editors, but has better first-year reliability and a "far easier" infotainment system that doesn't require multiple steps for basic tasks. A better ride and reduced noise help, too.

Ford's BlueCruise driver assist technology also gave the Mach-E an edge thanks to a more effective drive monitoring system that now counts toward vehicle scores. Tesla's Autopilot was docked for functioning while drivers look away.

Consumer Reports still recommended the Model 3 thanks to its sports car-like performance, long range, charging network and technology. However, the outlet couldn't recommend the Mach-E's more direct rival, the Model Y, as an EV Top Pick. Tesla's SUV-like ride has "much worse" reliability than average vehicles in the lineup, and is noticeably worse than the average-rated Model 3.

This isn't going to please Tesla, which has had a less-than-amicable relationship with Consumer Reports over the years. The two have disputed test results, and CR has temporarily pulled recommendations for some models. However, it also reflects lingering concerns about Tesla's reliability. The EV producer has issued a string of recalls in recent months, and owners have frequently reported build quality issues. This might not have cost Tesla the lead by itself, but it certainly didn't help the company's chances.

Twitter hasn't been having a good day. As The Vergereports, code sleuth Jane Manchun Wong and other users have noticed a partial Twitter outage today (February 17th) that has led to missing tweets, including on profile pages. The social network's status page shows nothing wrong, but Downdetector indicated a surge in user-reported problems around 11AM Eastern. Most of the alerts came from people in the Easter US.

Twitter told Engadget it was investigating the problem and would follow up. The company's support account also told users about a "rise in cases." It's still possible to view many tweets and create new posts, at least as of this writing. Wong noted that Twitter "mitigated" the situation by reverting a code switch.

This is the second incident so far this month. On February 11th, the company suffered and fixed a "technical bug" that prevented people from posting or loading timelines. It's unclear if the failures are related, but this likely isn't what the company would want as it tests a long-form article feature and ditches a two-factor provider linked to secret surveillance operations.

It took three years, but Netflix is finally ready to set a release date for Stranger Things season 4 — or rather, release dates. The streaming service has revealed that Stranger Things season 4 will debut in two parts, with Volume 1 arriving on May 27th and Volume 2 appearing July 1st. This split doesn't just exist keep you subscribed to Netflix, either. The Duffer Brothers noted the fourth run is "nearly twice the length" of any past season, so you may have plenty to watch in that five-week span.

The season 4 release date will also represent bittersweet news for fans. Stranger Things season 5 will be the last, the Duffer Brothers said. And no, this doesn't reflect Netflix's fondness for cancelling shows after a few seasons. The creators had a story arc in mind from the beginning, and had expected to wrap in four or five seasons. Like it or not, the nostalgic thriller series was never going to continue for much longer.

The fourth season also promises a more ambitious storyline that covers Eleven and Will's new life in California, Hopper's presence in Russia and the return of Dr. Brenner. You can expect the usual mix of supernatural occurrences and shady government dealings.

Netflix isn't likely worried about the series winding down. While Stranger Things has been one of the company's tentpole shows for the past several years, the service is more of a powerhouse than it was in 2016. Netflix has numerous popular (and sometimes critically acclaimed) shows, and it's now in the habit of releasing dozens of movies per year with top-tier stars and producers. Netflix's success no longer hinges on a handful of productions. It can afford to have Stranger Things bow out gracefully, rather than dragging it out for the sake of boosting subscriber counts.

The 2021 Formula 1 season ended messily, to put it lightly, and the FIA is hoping technology will prevent a repeat. As part of a string of changes, Formula 1 is implementing a "Virtual Race Control Room" akin to the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) you see in soccer. The "backup" will sit outside the circuit and use a real-time link with the race director to enforce rules using the "most modern technological tools."

The race director will also be cut off from direct radio communications to reduce pressure. It will still be possible to ask questions, but there will be a strict procedure for this.

The move comes after a controversial end to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021. Lewis Hamilton was leading the race, with five lapped drivers sitting behind the safety car and preventing rival Max Verstappen from realistically contesting Hamilton's position. However, race director Michael Masi made the controversial decision to let those trailing drivers "unlap" themselves by passing the safety car, giving Verstappen a much easier time of challenging Hamilton's lead. With the help of fresh tires, Verstappen passed Hamilton (who was using worn tires) to win the race and, in turn, the Driver's Championship. 

Hamilton's Mercedes team appealed Masi's call by pointing to rules requiring all cars to unlap themselves, and for racing to resume the following lap, rather than immediately. The team also claimed Verstappen's front wing briefly passed Hamilton while behind the safety car. Race stewards rejected the appeal.

There are no guarantees the virtual control room will improve F1 rule enforcement. This and VAR represent a shift in officiating techniques, however. Sports leagues appear less and less content to rely solely on human judgment — technology isn't replacing race directors or referees, but it might ensure their calls hold up under scrutiny.

If you thought Elon Musk was upset about frequent attention from the SEC... you guessed correctly. Musk and Tesla have written to a Southern District of New York court accusing the SEC of conducting a "harassment campaign." The regulator allegedly broke a promise to pay Tesla shareholders $40 million as part of its 2018 settlement with Musk over his tweets about taking the EV maker private, and instead devoted its resources to "endless, unfounded investigations" into the CEO and his company.

The two maintained the SEC was sending subpoenas "unilaterally" and that the court, not just the Commission, was to monitor his compliance with the consent decree from the settlement. The SEC was supposedly retaliating against Musk for being an "outspoken critic of the government," and more interested in stifling his First Amendment right to free speech than fairly enforcing the law. There haven't been any findings of wrongdoing, according to the complaint.

Musk and Tesla asked the court for a "course correction" including a conference to discuss the SEC's alleged failure to pay as well as the frequent investigations. They hoped the court would put the claimed harassment "to an end" while forcing the SEC to pay shareholders.

We've asked the SEC for comment. The government body has made repeated inquiries into Musk's tweets in the years since the settlement, writing Tesla in 2019 and 2020 over posts it found concerning. While it's true the SEC hasn't found Musk at fault for those tweets, officials still claimed Musk was discussing key financial topics (such as production levels and stock valuations) without the pre-approval required under the 2018 agreement. Tesla argued these tweets weren't covered under the terms of the deal, but it's safe to say the situation isn't entirely clear-cut.

Don't expect to watch HBO's The Last of Us series any time soon. Channel programming president Casey Bloys told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that the adaptation of Naughty Dog's apocalyptic games won't air in 2022. Bloys didn't commit to a release date, but he noted filming was still underway in the western Canadian city of Calgary.

The series stars The Mandalorian and Narcos veteran Pedro Pascal as the grizzled survivor Joel, while Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey plays the teen Ellie. The games' Merle Dandridge plays the resistance leader Marlene, while Gabriel Luna (True Detective) and Anna Torv (Fringe) respectively play Joel's brother Tommy and the smuggler Tess. Nick Offerman also has a guest role. The high-level plot largely mimics that of the first game — Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie to an organization searching for a cure to the brain infection that ravaged humanity, but the journey becomes far more complicated.

The timing will have HBO's The Last of Us debut long after the game's sequel. Expectations are already riding high, though. On top of the cast, the show is written and executive produced by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. In theory, the series will both buck the trend of so-so game adaptations and give Sony's PlayStation Productions studio some extra credibility.