Twitter no longer lets you charge users to listen to live Spaces conversations. The social media heavyweight tells The Information in a statement that it has indefinitely "paused" its Ticketed Spaces test. The move will let Twitter concentrate on improving the "core Spaces experience," the company says. It's not clear how many eligible hosts were using the service.

The company started public testing of Ticketed Spaces in August last year, three months after it unveiled the feature. Effectively, it was a way for creators to put audio chats behind a paywall. An industry figure could hold a TED-style talk from home, while a star could hold discussions with their most loyal fans. Notably, Twitter's potential profit was relatively low — it would take just a 3 percent cut from revenue below $50,000, and only demand 20 percent beyond that. While that fee include Apple and Google payouts, it still meant that hosts would take most of the revenue.

This isn't to say Twitter is shying away from Spaces in general. The company is experimenting with support for live chats inside Communities, and is working on projects like themed stations and daily digests. However, the end to Ticketed Spaces comes as social audio pioneer Clubhouse (the inspiration for Spaces) has been rethinking its strategy and laying off staff. The live voice chat field just isn't as hot as it was during the early pandemic, and that could make it harder to attract paying users.

What happens next isn't clear. While the discontinuation of Ticketed Spaces isn't connected to Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, the incoming leader has promised sweeping changes to the company as he tries to make it a "town square" while boosting its bottom line. We wouldn't expect paid chats to come back, but they're not necessarily dead.

You won't have to pay much extra to get Apple's latest thin-and-light laptop. Amazon is once again selling the base MacBook Air configuration with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for $1,049, significantly below the official $1,199 price. The savings only apply to the silver and midnight hues, but you probably won't mind if you were previously considering the M1 model. You can also save $150 on 512GB versions if you need the extra storage.

The M2-powered MacBook Air is, simply put, one of the best general-purpose laptops we've tried. It's extremely slim and fanless, but still performs well and lasts a very long time on battery. Add a high-quality display and surprisingly powerful speakers and you have a portable that can travel most anywhere, but still has the power to handle serious tasks like video editing.

There are some important considerations. The storage in the 256GB configuration isn't as quick as for the 512GB edition — it's just fine for everyday use, but may prove a bottleneck if you're routinely working with very large files (such as major 4K video projects). And while the absence of a fan is rarely an issue in typical circumstances, you may want to spring for the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 if you regularly subject your computer to sustained heavy workloads. Otherwise, the MacBook Air is a great pick — it's even better than the Pro if you need more ports (as MagSafe frees up one) or prefer physical function keys over the Touch Bar.

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Now's your chance to get a pair of solid noise-cancelling headphones without the usual high price. Amazon is selling the WH-XB910N with active noise cancellation (ANC) for $123, or a hefty 51 percent off. That's a better deal than we saw earlier this year, and makes them an easy pick if you're shopping in the sub-$150 range.

The WH-XB910N headphones may not match the stellar audio fidelity of Sony's flagship WH-1000XM5 headphones, but they don't have to at this price. You still get clear mid- and high-range sounds, strong bass and 360 Reality Audio (aka spatial audio) for services like Amazon Music HD, Deezer and Tidal. You'll also get robust noise cancellation, a healthy 30 hours of claimed battery life and support for voice control through Alexa and Google Assistant.

These are good commuter headphones, too. The WH-XB910N can amplify your voice when you make calls in noisy environments, and an ambient sound mode lets you hear crosswalk traffic or a subway stop announcement. They're particularly helpful if you want to quickly head out after a long day at work — 10 minutes of charging will deliver 4.5 hours of listening. Throw in the included carrying case and you can easily bring these with you.

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Apple seems to be weathering the financial storm, albeit with a few hitches. The company reported a record high revenue of $90.1 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, with a net profit of $20.7 billion. While those were only slight increases versus the same period last year (revenue was up 'just' 8 percent), they came despite a rough economic climate and near-flat revenue growth in the previous quarter.

The issues mainly stem from mixed performance across Apple's lineup. It won't surprise you to hear that the iPhone 14 debut helped fuel the company's mobile revenue ($42.6 billion versus last summer's $38.9 billion), but other segments were volatile. While the MacBook Air M2 helped Mac revenue jump 25 percent to $11.5 billion, iPad sales dropped sharply — they fell to just under $7.2 billion versus nearly $8.3 billion a year earlier. And while services like Apple Music and TV+ set a new record of $19.2 billion, that's only a mediocre bump versus the $18.3 billion from a year ago. Sales for the Apple Watch and smart home devices grew solidly from $8.8 billion to $9.7 billion.

The customer base appears to be strong, at least. During Apple's earnings call, CFO Luca Maestri noted that roughly half of Mac and iPad buyers were new to the platform. The company also touted an all-time (but unspecified) high for the number of active devices. CEO Tim Cook added that phone sales were strong despite tight supply constraints for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

The fall (Apple's first fiscal quarter of 2023) could be rosier. Apple introduced new iPads in October this year where it released updated models in September last year, so we'd expect a bump in sales for the tablet lineup. Cook added that last year was "unusually strong" thanks to the iPad Pro M1 launch. The iPhone 14 family had also been available for just eight days during the fourth quarter, so overall iPhone sales should improve.

Apple isn't out of trouble yet. It's still hiring more cautiously, and supply issues (including for the Apple Watch Ultra, Cook says) may dog the company for a while. It's also unclear how people will take to devices like the iPhone 14 Plus, which didn't ship until this month. All the same, Apple may be happy. The computer market tanked 19.5 percent during the quarter, according to Gartner estimates, while Canalys believes smartphone shipments dropped 9 percent. If those figures are reasonably accurate, Apple is thriving simply by avoiding sharp declines in most categories.

NASA's InSight lander may have had its last hurrah. Researchers have learned that a marsquake the lander detected in Mars' Amazonis Planitia region on December 24th, 2021 was actually a meteoroid impact — the first time any mission has witnessed a crater forming on the planet. Scientists found out when they looked at before-and-after pictures from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) revealing a 492-foot gash in the landscape.

The meteoroid is believed to have been somewhere between 16 and 39 feet long. It would have burned up in Earth's skies, but it was large enough to survive Mars' extra-thin atmosphere. The impact was violent, digging a hole 70 feet deep and tossing debris as far as 23 miles away from the crater. It also exposed subsurface ice that hasn't been seen so close to the martian equator before now. A sound adaptation of Insight's data (below) shows just how "loud" the event was compared to Mars' regular activity.

It took some time to confirm the event. A Malin Space Science Systems team used two of the MRO's cameras (the black-and-white Context Camera and the Mars Color Imager) to spot the crater in February. Pictures from the color camera helped narrow down the impact to a 24-hour window.

Separately, a group has suggested that 20 of InSight's roughly 1,300 detected marsquakes may be signs of magma. As Gizmodoexplains, the quakes' spectral signature hints at a comparatively soft crust in Mars' Cerberus Fossae region. Combined with dark dust, this hints that volcanic activity might have occurred on the planet within the past 50,000 years.

The discovery could help the scientific community understand Mars' geologic timeline by defining the rate of craters appearing on the planet. It might also prove crucial to Mars colonists and explorers who may need the underground ice for sustenance and rocket fuel. Human visitors could carry fewer supplies, or extend their stays.

There's a bittersweetness to this news. NASA previously warned that InSight couldn't last much longer, and now expects the lander to shut down in six weeks as accumulating dust limits the effectiveness of its solar panels. That's better than the end-of-summer cutoff the agency predicted this spring, but it could leave the meteorite detection as InSight's last major accomplishment.

Twitch is continuing its ongoing safety reforms with a simple but potentially useful move: writing its policies in plain language. The company has rewritten its Community Guidelines to provide what it believes is a clearer structure with simpler wording, more context and practical examples. This includes new top-level categories (such as "Civility & Respect" and "Sensitive Content") and more logical category groupings, such as a "Youth Safety" section that covers everything related to users under 18. Some violations now have dedicated categories, such as "Sexual Harassment" and "Prohibited Games."

The livestreaming service emphasizes that the guidelines themselves haven't changed. This is an effort to make the rules more usable. In theory, at least, you'll see fewer inadvertent violations and more people reporting misbehavior. Twitch pointed to past revisions as an example of what could happen. When it enacted clearer rules for hate and harassment at the start of 2021, it saw both a 920 percent year-over-year surge in enforcement as well as a 511 percent jump in valid user reports.

The rewrite is an acknowledgment that Twitch's lack of clarity has sometimes led to very real problems for creators. The service added a "Hot Tubs" category last year in part because its previous approach (lumping these streamers into the "Just Chatting" section) led to ambiguity for both users and advertisers concerned broadcasters were flouting the rules. Twitch also revised the language for its sexual content policy, and in June streamlined its approach to mentions of self-harm.

Twitch says it will continue refining the policies themselves, including a "more comprehensive" revision of its sexual content material. The clarification isn't going to satisfy users concerned about the effectiveness of the guidelines. It may result in fewer accusations of unfair bans and demonetization, though, and might make it easier for Twitch to expand policies over time.

The Federal Communications Commission is well aware of the potential damage from fake emergency alerts, and it's hoping to minimize the threat with policy changes. The agency has proposed rules that would require stricter security for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Participants and telecoms would have to not only report EAS breaches within 72 hours, but provide yearly certifications that they both have "sufficient" safeguards and a risk management plan.

The proposed rules would also require phone carriers to send authentication data ensuring that only legitimate emergency alerts reach customer devices. The FCC is similarly looking for comments on the effectiveness of the current requirements for transmitting EAS notices, and suggestions for "alternative approaches" with improvements.

The proposal comes three years after University of Colorado researchers warned that it was easy to spoof FEMA's presidential alerts, with no way to verify the authenticity of the broadcasts. And while the 2018 Hawaii missile alert was the result of an error rather than a hack, it underscored the risks associated with false warnings. Even at small scales, a fake alert could reach tens of thousands of people, possibly leading to panic and reduced trust in real messages.

It's not certain if the proposals are enough. The 72-hour window may help prevent some false alerts, but not all of them — that's plenty of time for a hacker to both breach an emergency system and send fake messages. It's likewise unclear if the FCC would update its security requirements to keep up with evolving threats. Even so, this shows that the Commission is at least aware of the dangers.

Fast Company isn't the only news outlet to suffer a recent, high-profile security breach. As CNBCreports, The New York Post has confirmed it was the victim of a hack. The perpetrators briefly defaced both the newspaper's website and Twitter account with racist and sexist headlines, including ones targeting New York City Mayor Eric Adams and House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

In a statement, the The Post said only that it was "investigating the cause." No one has taken credit for the hack as of this writing, and it's not clear if the intruders took any sensitive data.

This isn't the first breach targeting The Post this year. In February, News Corp revealed that hackers compromised email accounts and documents for The Post and Wall Street Journal employees, including some journalists. Mandiant, a security firm working for the media giant, believed China was conducting an intelligence gathering operation. It's not certain if there's any relation between the cyberattacks.

The attack comes just weeks after Fast Company fell victim to hacks that let the culprit send racist notifications to Apple News users. The publication went so far as to shut down its entire website while it addressed the incident. The hacker claimed to have exploited weak password security in WordPress that let them steal employee login info, password hashes and draft articles.

There's no known link between the hacks at present. However, they illustrate the potential dangers of site violations like this. On top of the risks to data, they provide easy ways for hackers to spread toxic and partisan messages. It won't be surprising if there are similar campaigns in the near future, especially with the US midterm elections just weeks away.

It took several months, but Snap's promised video editing suite is finally available. The social network is now rolling out "Director Mode" to all Snapchat users on Android and iOS. As teased in April, the feature lets creators add polish to their Snaps with virtual green screens, camera speed changes and quick editing for multiple clips.

You can also use the BeReal-style Dual Camera functionality within this mode, although it's currently limited to iOS users. Android users will have "limited" access to two-camera recording in the weeks ahead. Dual Camera is also available through the regular Snapchat cam.

Director Mode will be useful for influencers who want to produce videos for Spotlight, Snapchat's home for TikTok-like short videos. It may be particularly helpful for verified users (Snap Stars in company lingo) who want more of the sheen they apply to all their online content.

Snap isn't alone in chasing after TikTok and similar rivals. Instagram has been testing a Candid Challenges feature that mimics BeReal, and it's no secret that social media heavyweights have routinely lifted elements from each other in a bid to remain competitive — to the point where they've occasionally had to walk back their plans after mimicking designs too closely. Like it or not, social networks are harmonizing to the point where differences may only be subtle.

You'll have to wait a few months if you want to see Team Ninja's latest take on Nioh-style demon slaying. Koei Tecmo has confirmed that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty arrives March 3rd for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC (via the Microsoft Store and Steam). It will also be accessible through Xbox Game Pass on launch.

Wo Long is effectively Team Ninja's love note to Koei Tecmo's long-running obsession with Three Kingdoms-era China (see: Dynasty Warriors). You play a militia member fighting a demon onslaught in the later Han Period. You'll encounter famous warriors in the process. As with the Nioh series, you can expect an action-based battle system that rewards different playstyles, but is also unforgiving — when the creators talk about gaining strength by "overcoming adversity," it's safe to presume you'll die often.

You'll have something to play in the meantime, depending on your choice of platform. Sony just revealed that the remastered Nioh 2 will be one of PlayStation Plus Essential's free games for November alongside the Lego Harry Potter Collection and Heavenly Bodies.

It's not clear if Wo Long will continue Team Ninja's track record. There is a large potential audience, at least. Team Ninja has announced that the two Nioh games have shipped a combined 7 million copies since the franchise's debut in February 2017. While that won't make FromSoftware nervous (Elden Ring alone had sold 16.6 million units by July this year), it suggests the new title could have plenty of fans.