Zwift is bringing together some of its more dedicated cyclists for another competitive riding event. On February 26th, the workout platform will host the second UCI Cycling Esports World Championships on a course set on a virtual version of Central Park in New York City.

Riders will complete two laps of the 22.5 km Knickerbocker route. The course features some glass roadways that are suspended above the park to add more elevation. Pay close attention and you'll see flying taxis zipping around too.

The competitors will all use the Wahoo Kickr V5 Smart Trainers. Zwift says these intelligently respond to climb gradients as well as simulated drift from other riders.

Since this is a virtual event, Zwift is able to shake things up a bit from traditional road races. Riders will have seven chances to pick up Mario Kart-style PowerUps during the race. They can deploy these at strategic times to temporarily increase the draft effect, boost aerodynamic efficiency or reduce the bike's weight.

Around 180 riders will compete across the men's and women's races. The winners will each receive a physical and digital championship jersey they can wear for sanctioned esports races and activities and while their avatar is active on Zwift. The event will be broadcast on Eurosport in Europe and on GCN+ and Zwift's YouTube channel around the world.

Zwift notes that all users had the chance to secure a spot in the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships through continental qualifier races. It says that while it's early days for cycling esports, some specialist riders have already emerged. As the metaverse continues to take shape, perhaps we'll start seeing more physical esports events in other disciplines.

More electric vehicle drivers will soon be able to charge their car's battery when they stop by the drugstore. EV charging network Volta is bringing another 1,000 DC fast-charging stalls to 500 Walgreens locations.

This marks a significant expansion of their partnership. The pair started working together in 2019 and there are currently Volta stations at 49 Walgreens stores. The companies say the latest agreement builds on Volta's plans to expand access to its DC fast-charging network and aligns with Walgreens' support of efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

"Walgreens is an ideal match for faster forms of Volta charging given the average time a Walgreens shopper typically spends in-store," Volta founder and CEO Scott Mercer said in a statement. "The next phase of our work with Walgreens will provide people with a quick, convenient, and meaningful charge that is tailored to their shopping experience while bringing us another step closer to a clean energy future."

Drugstores and grocery stores are good spots for EV charging stations, since drivers can top up their battery while grabbing some essentials. On top of that, the easier it is for folks to access fast-charging stations, the more likely they might be to switch to an EV. This week, the Biden administration announced a $5 billion plan to improve EV charging infrastructure across the US.

Netflix is making a docuseries about one of the worst rappers of all time. Coincidentally, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, were charged this week with conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin, which was stolen in the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

At the time of the theft, the stolen cryptocurrency was worth around $63.7 million. Now, it's worth over $5 billion. Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly laundered around 25,000 bitcoin, which is worth $1.08 billion today, by using phony identities and various accounts to buy gold and NFTs. If they're convinced, Lichtenstein and Morgan face up to 25 years in prison.

Following search warrants, special agents obtained access to an account controlled by Lichtenstein. It contained the keys to a wallet that held more than 94,000 bitcoin that was stolen from Bitfinex. The special agents seized that digital currency, which was worth over $3.6 billion earlier this week.

It was the Department of Justice's largest financial seizure ever. Netflix echoed that sentiment in its announcement, calling it “the biggest financial crime case in history.”

The streaming service, which has put the project in motion in near record time, has tapped Chris Smith to direct the docuseries. Smith has worked on several projects based on high-profile scams and crimes. He directed a Netflix documentary about the infamous Fyre Festival, as well as a docuseries about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Both are compelling watches and it's not hard to imagine Smith being able to spin another fascinating true-crime yarn out of this particular case.

A few months back, Blade Runner director Ridley Scott said a live-action series set in that universe is in the works. The project looks to be a step closer to reality, as Amazon Studios has reportedly put it in development. Amazon's TV and film production arm is said to be fast tracking scripts and looking at possible production dates.

The show is called Blade Runner 2099, according to both Deadline and Variety. While no details about the plot have been revealed as yet, the title suggests the show will be set 50 years after Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Scott's original film.

Scott is said to be an executive producer and may direct some episodes if the series gets the green light. Silka Luisa, who wrote the upcoming Apple TV+ time-travel thriller series Shining Girls, is reportedly onboard as a writer and executive producer.

It's still early days for Blade Runner 2099, but the smart money is on Amazon bringing the series to Prime Video. The streaming service has a decent track record when it comes to sci-fi, with shows like The Expanse under its belt. Like Blade Runner, Amazon anthology series Electric Dreams is based on the works of sci-fi author Philip K. Dick.

Another show set in the Blade Runner universe, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, debuted on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll last year, though that's an anime series rather than a live-action project.

Toyota is plowing more money into EV production in the US. Just a few months after the automaker announced a $240 million investment in its West Virginia plant, it's pumping another $73 million into the facility.

The company says this will boost hybrid transaxle production capacity to 600,000 units per year. Workers at the plant will also start making around 120,000 rear motor stators annually to bolster production of electric motors. The plant can currently roll 1 million transmissions and engines off the production line per year. Following the latest investment, Toyota will have put over $2 billion into the plant.

Meanwhile, a separate $17 million investment will enable Toyota's Tennessee plant to make approximately 300,000 more hybrid transaxle cases and housings per year (the current capacity is around 1 million). The factory's workers also manufacture around 1.8 million engine blocks a year. The company says these parts are essential for all the Toyota and Lexus EVs it assembles in North America. This brings the automaker's total investment in the plant so far to $389 million.

Toyota is on a mission to offer electrified options across its entire lineup, as well as for Lexus vehicles, by 2025 and to release 30 EV models by 2030. Investing more heavily in EV production will help it reach those goals. Increasing EV battery production is important too, and the company recently announced plans to build a $1.29 billion battery plant in North Carolina.

MoviePass is making a comeback, and we've learned some more details about the latest incarnation of the cinema subscription service. Cofounder Stacy Spikes, who is back at the helm, says MoviePass 2.0 is being built on a Web3 framework and will have a kind of virtual currency. 

MoviePass

Members will have credits they can use for tickets for themselves and friends. Unused credits will roll over to the next month and you'll be able to transfer them to other people. There will be tiered plans, but Spikes didn't divulge pricing

The new MoviePass app will show you how many credits you have and available screenings at theaters. Credits will work differently during peak and off-peak times — a Friday or Saturday showing might cost more credits. You'll be able to reserve specific seats at some of MoviePass' partner theaters.

Spikes said there'll be ways for people to earn credits through the app via a "preshow experience." In other words, watching ads. To make sure you're actually watching them, the app will employ facial recognition and eye tracking. Yikes. 

MoviePass is also opening up a portion of the company for equity investment. Those who take a stake in will receive benefits, such as a lifetime membership.

If 30 percent of moviegoers become subscribers, the company "could double the annual revenue and attendance of the overall movie industry," Spikes said, though he noted that's a moonshot target. He added that many subscribers of the previous service checked out movies they otherwise might not have gambled on because impulsive movie-watching decisions didn't cost them anything extra.

Spikes and Hamet Watt founded MoviePass in 2011 to offer users a certain number of movie tickets every month as part of a subscription. HMNY bought the company in 2017 and, soon after, changed the pricing model to allow members to see one movie in theaters a day for $10 per month. Although the service blew up and had more than 3 million subscribers at its peak, the business model was unsustainable. MoviePass ultimately declared bankruptcy in January 2020.

Spikes regained ownership of MoviePass in November. He said he bid less than $250,000 for the assets. However, they didn't include customer email addresses or other data, so MoviePass is starting over almost from scratch.

It'll be interesting to see if Moviepass can carve out a place for itself in a cinema landscape that's changed dramatically in recent years. Chains like Regal Cinemas, AMC and Alamo Drafthouse have established their own subscription plans. 

Theaters have struggled over the last couple of years, with the pandemic forcing many to at least temporarily close their doors. But a Web3-based service with a virtual currency and facial recognition component might not be the lifeboat these chains, or their patrons, are looking for.

Another bill has been introduced in the Senate that takes aim at the spread of misinformation on social media platforms. The proposed legislation seeks to direct the Federal Trade Commission to look into ways of reducing "the harm of algorithmic amplification and social media addiction on covered platforms."

The full text of the bipartisan bill, which was co-authored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) hasn't been published on the Senate website as yet. According to The Verge, were the Social Media NUDGE Act to become law, the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine would look into content-neutral ways to add "friction" to sharing things on social media platforms. The legislation would prompt the FTC to codify the findings and possibly require social media platforms to implement them.

The overarching goal is to impede the spread of misinformation and other harmful material. Some measures along these lines are already in place. Twitter, for instance, asks users if they want to read the contents of a link before retweeting it. The idea is that people will be more informed about what they're sharing with their followers.

The Social Media NUDGE Act has been referred to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Unlike similar proposals, it wouldn't require any changes to Section 230, a provision of the Communications Decency Act 1996 that shields online platforms from accountability for their users' activity.

A bill that House Democrats introduced in October aims to limit Section 230 protections for "malicious" algorithms by making platforms liable when algorithms are "knowingly or recklessly" used to recommend content that results in physical or "severe emotional" harm. Another bill that was introduced in November would direct platforms to offer users an option to view content without being impacted by recommendation algorithms.

In the Senate, Klobuchar co-sponsored a bill that was submitted last February, which seeks to limit the protections social media platforms have under Section 230. None of these bills have passed their respective committees as yet.

Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct was packed full of eye-catching games that are coming to Nintendo Switch. If a new version of Wii Sports or the option to play Portal or No Man’s Sky on the go intrigues you, but you haven’t snagged the console yet, now might be a good time to pick one up. Prime members can get $20 off a Nintendo Switch at Woot. That lowers the price to $280.

This is a return of a deal that we saw in late January. You’ll be able to save on a version of the console with a better battery that Nintendo released in 2019 — you won’t be able to get a discount on a Switch Lite or the OLED model this time around.

The Switch is a great console that we gave a score of 88 to in our most recent review (Nintendo has rolled out Bluetooth headphones support since then). It’s an excellent way to play games on both your TV and pretty much anywhere else. The library of titles in the eShop is stellar, ranging from blockbustergames and killerindies to Nintendo and Sega classics that are included in Switch Online plans. Of course, the Switch is the only official way to play Nintendo’s latestfirst-party console games too.

You’ll need to sign in to Woot with your Prime account to see the deal, which is limited to one unit per person. It’s worth noting that Woot’s return policy is different from parent company Amazon's. The offer runs until February 28th. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Indiegogo wants to do more to make crowdfunding safer and more trustworthy. Offering users assurances that campaign organizers will deliver on their promises is a key part of that. The platform is now rolling out a program designed to place a spotlight on those who've run well-organized campaigns and delivered perks to backers in the past.

As part of the Trust-Proven Program, Indiegogo is reviewing the histories of active campaign organizers to determine if they have a solid track record of fulfilling perks, positive feedback from backers and a proven ability to manage campaigns well. Those who meet the criteria will have a Trust-Proven Badge on their campaign page.

The badge doesn't automatically mean that campaign organizers will fulfill their perks and come through on their latest project. It does offer an at-a-glance indication that they know what they're doing when it comes to crowdfunding campaigns, and it's more likely that they'll deliver on their pledges. If organizers don't stick to Indiegogo's policies, though, they risk losing the badge.

The program builds on an initiative that ramped up last year to provide more transparency about what Indiegogo's doing behind the scenes to ensure it has a safe, trusted platform. Among its goals is to review every campaign before it goes live.

At the outset, Indiegogo was an open platform that would allow most kinds of legal campaigns. However, "that's not really what backers want." Will Haines, Indiegogo's vice president of product and consumer trust, told Engadget. "They want a platform where there's some baseline level of trust." This latest program aligns with what users are asking for.

The Trust-Proven Badge is now live on campaigns from Firewalla, SIRUI, VAVA and, the most recognizable name among the bunch, Canon. The badge is placed prominently on the page. Hovering over the question mark icon will inform users the badge denotes that the "campaigner has a history of fulfilling campaigns on the IGG platform or is an Enterprise-run campaign."

For now, the Trust-Proven Program is limited to organizers who have run several projects in the technology and innovation category. Indiegogo might expand it to other types of campaigns in the future, though Haines noted that building physical products is "a more challenging area" than, perhaps, making a low-budget film or a tabletop game, not least because of ongoing supply chain issues.

These types of projects "tend to be at a higher price point, which raises the risk for the backer, just because they're putting more money on the line," Haines said. "But on the other hand, backers have spoken in our community and we have a community of tech enthusiasts who love these kinds of products." As such, Indiegogo wants to provide "a baseline level of security without stifling the innovation on the platform."

Haines called the Trust-Proven Program a first step for Indiegogo as it seeks to bolster transparency and trust on the platform. Over the coming year, it's hoping to provide more information to backers about where entrepreneurs are in the process of turning their ideas into a reality. While there are some details Indiegogo can't or won't disclose to prevent people from gaming the system, "we're looking for avenues to be able to provide this kind of information to the backers so that they can be along for the ride each step of the way," Haines said.

There will always be an element of risk with crowdfunding campaigns. Indiegogo isn't looking to do away with that entirely. The Trust-Proven Program and similar efforts are about providing users with relevant info so they can make better informed decisions about whether to back a project.

"We want to be clear to backers what they're getting into when they contribute on the site; if someone has something that they created on the back of a napkin, and it's really just the concept," Haines said. "There is, I would argue, a place for that on the platform, but it had better be really clear that it's a napkin sketch."

There was a mixed bag of news for Mario Kart fans during the latest Nintendo Direct. While there wasn't any word about the next game in the long-running series, Nintendo revealed it isn't done with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just yet.

The company is remastering courses from older games in the series and bringing them to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as paid DLC. The first batch of courses will arrive on March 18th. Next month, you'll once again be able to race around Coconut Mall from Mario Kart Wii, Choco Mountain from Mario Kart 64 and Tokyo Blue from Mario Kart Tour and five other versions of classic courses.

Nintendo will add eight courses at a a time over six waves. All 48 courses should be available by the end of 2023. Pre-orders for the $25 Booster Course Pass open today. However, if you're a subscriber to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, you'll get access to the remastered courses at no extra cost. 

The company previously offered subscribers a paid Animal Crossing: New Horizons expansion as part of the plan. Expansion Pack (which also includes a library of Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games) costs $50 per year for an individual plan and $80 annually for a family membership. You need either that or a Switch Online subscription to play with friends online.