Lollapalooza is once again an in-person festival after a switch to a streaming-only gig in 2020, but that's not the only big change for fans. Hulu has become the exclusive streaming partner for Lollapalooza 2021, and will stream the Chicago event to on-demand subscribers between July 29th and August 1st starting at 2PM Eastern (1PM Central). Yes, that means what you think it does — Lollapalooza won't be streaming on YouTube like it has in recent years.

There's no extra charge, and you can watch if you sign up for a free trial. The Lollapalooza 2021 lineup includes plenty of big names, including Illenium (July 29th), Tyler, the Creator (July 30th), Post Malone (July 31st) and Foo Fighters (August 1st).

Hulu has streamed concerts before, including a Black History Month show in February and a Summer of Soul tribute on Juneteenth. However, this is the service's first exclusive live event. It's a big bet that livestreams like this can translate to more customers, not to mention draw attention away from free services like YouTube.

Whether or not music fans follow is another matter. YouTube is still a go-to destination for live festivals like Coachella, and that may be what virtual concertgoers are expecting. There's a real possibility that many would-be viewers will just skip Lollapalooza altogether rather than sign up for Hulu, no matter how easily they can cancel service afterward.

Your archived WhatsApp chats will no longer resurrect themselves — unless you let them. The messaging giant is rolling out a settings change that will keep those conversation threads tucked away in the Archived Chats folder by default, even if someone sends a new message. You'll have to remove a thread from the archives if you want to make it active again.

If you prefer the old behavior, you can restore it through the relevant settings in the Chats tab.

This could prove frustrating if someone wants to bring back a discussion you wouldn't mind revisiting, such as a classmate chat or a party planning session. However, it could easily be worthwhile if it prevents someone from dredging up bad memories or otherwise hijacking control of archives you'd rather keep hidden.

Gamers of a certain age (cough) now have a way to relive the countless hours spent playing The Simpsons at your local arcade. Arcade1Up has introduced a retro cabinet that faithfully recreates The Simpsons Arcade Game (plus The Simpsons Bowling) as you played it 30 years ago, just without the gigantic pile of quarters needed to emerge victorious. In some ways, it's better — a remote play option lets other cabinet owners jump into the beat 'em up without leaving home.

Arcade1Up promises authentic artwork and relatively easy assembly.

Pre-orders start on August 16th. Arcade1Up hasn't mentioned a price, although the period-appropriate Turtles in Time cabinet costs $650 if you need a reference point. You're paying a lot to satisfy your nostalgic urges. Still, this might be worthwhile if you're looking for a conversation piece in your den or game room that ventures beyond the usual air hockey and pool tables.

Waze can be helpful for dodging gridlock and other headaches while you drive, but now it's helping you make a more informed choice before you start moving. The Google-owned company has revamped the pre-drive screen on Android and iOS to deliver considerably more info on the pre-drive screen.

You'll now see alternate routes, traffic levels, real-time reports and toll info, not to mention an explanation of just why Waze chose a given route. If the app recommends that you skip your typical route to work, you'll know what's to blame. You can still choose that usual route if you'd like.

The updated screen is already rolling out to users worldwide. In some ways, this is one of the more important Waze upgrades in recent memory. While Waze still thrives on its automatic route planning, this puts more control in your hands and might help more people understand how the app makes its decisions.

TikTok wants to encourage more livestreams, and that now includes creating a friendlier environment for the hosts. The social video giant is rolling out a string of new features that include tools to promote kindness. For a start, TikTok will now pop up an alert if you're about to post a comment the company deems "potentially unkind or harmful." You can press forward if you're determined, but TikTok clearly hopes you'll reconsider any personal attacks.

Accordingly, the hosts will have more power as well. You can assign a trusted moderator before you start a stream, letting you focus on the show instead of blocking and muting trolls. You can now add up to 200 entries to the keyword filter. In the "coming weeks," you'll also have ways for both hosts and viewers to both delete comments and temporarily mute viewers. Someone who committed a minor offense can have a shot at redemption, in other words.

There's also a focus on improved discovery. An addition rolling out "soon" will improve your ability to find livestreams from the For You and Following pages, not to mention provider quicker access to top and recommended live videos. TikTok also recently launched a scheduling tool for hosts, picture-in-picture viewing and a "Go Live Together" feature that lets two people start broadcasting at the same time.

The focus on livestreams doesn't come as a shock. TikTok noted that the number of people hosting and watching live video had "doubled" over the past year, and some of its biggest events have involved livestreams. The Weeknd played a concert through the platform, for instance. While looping videos remain TikTok's core, the company is more than a little eager to challenge Facebook, Instagram and other services where live video is also growing in popularity.

How much would you spend for a no-compromise mini-LED gaming monitor? Samsung thinks it has an answer. The company will start taking pre-orders for its long-teased Odyssey Neo G9 display on July 29th for $2,500. Yes, you could buy a nice PC for less than the cost of this curved, 49-inch beast — although you might have good reasons to buy this over smaller, flatter Odyssey screens.

As you might have guessed, the use of mini-LED delivers very high contrast ratios for an LCD monitor. Samsung claims a black level of just 0.0004. However, you're also getting extremely bright HDR thanks to a peak brightness of 2,000 nits that makes many TVs seem dim by comparison. Customizable lighting effects help add to the flash.

You should also see the same 5,120 x 1,440 resolution, 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms pixel response time from last year's Odyssey G9, not to mention connectivity that includes two HDMI ports, DisplayPort and a pair of USB 3.0 connections.

You're clearly getting features that are hard to match. However, it's also apparent that Samsung is targeting a fairly narrow audience — The Neo G9 is meant for well-heeled gamers who want the most immersive non-VR experience possible. It could easily hit the sweet spot if you're in that demographic, but creative pros (and anyone on a budget) will probably want to look elsewhere.

Whatever you think of Death Stranding as a game, it was apparently a commercial success. Kojima Productions publishing head Jay Boor told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview that the sci-fi courier game has sold five million copies across PS4 and PC.

That's not as strong as Metal Gear Solid V, which moved six million copies in just the first few months after its September 2015 debut. However, Death Stranding was also a brand new franchise that leaned mainly on Kojima's reputation (plus some big-name actors) to reel players in. Five million sales is no mean feat in that context, especially when other legendary game developers have sometimes struggled without the support of their best-known development teams.

The timing for these figures isn't a coincidence. The studio is using the sales numbers to build hype for the Death Stranding Director's Cut coming to the PlayStation 5 in September. At the same time, they suggest Kojima Productions isn't going away any time soon — at least, so long as Kojima's fan base (and his keen eye for cinematics) remains intact.

Microsoft's Surface Duo drew flak for delivering outdated specs at top-tier prices (among other missteps), but that might not be true for the sequel. Windows Central has shared a Tech Rat leak purporting to show images of the Surface Duo 2, and they suggest Microsoft is dragging its dual-screen Android phone into the modern era. Most notably, there's a conspicuous rear camera bump with three sensors — you wouldn't have to use a single camera for everything. WC understood these were standard, telephoto and ultra-wide shooters.

The leak also shows the Surface Duo 2 in a stealthier black color, and suggests Microsoft has pulled the fingerprint reader from its original spot and moved it to the power button.

There's little to see of the two screens or the internals, although WC and previous leaks point to a much-needed jump to modern hardware. Microsoft will reportedly outfit the Surface Duo 2 with a Snapdragon 888 chip, 5G and NFC. No more using year-old parts with glaring omissions, to put it another way.

WC claimed Microsoft will launch the Duo 2 sometime in September or October. It's not certain what the price would be, but Microsoft lowered the original's price from $1,399 to $999 just a few months after release, and it's available for $650 as we write this. The company is clearly aware that the first Surface Duo's steep price scared would-be buyers, and it likely won't want to make that mistake again.

Are you intrigued by the possibility of using nuclear reactors to curb emissions, but worried about their water use and long-term safety? There might be an impending solution. LiveSciencereports that China has outlined plans to build the first 'clean' commercial nuclear reactor using liquid thorium and molten salt.

The first prototype reactor should be ready in August, with the first tests due in September. A full-scale commercial reactor should be ready by 2030.

The technology should not only be kinder to the environment, but mitigate some political controversy. Conventional uranium reactors produce waste that stays extremely radioactive for up to 10,000 years, requiring lead containers and extensive security. The waste also includes plutonium-239, an isotope crucial to nuclear weapons. They also risk spilling dramatic levels of radiation in the event of a leak, as seen in Chernobyl. They also need large volumes of water, ruling out use in arid climates.

Thorium reactors, however, dissolve their key element into fluoride salt that mostly outputs uranium-233 you can recycle through other reactions. Other leftovers in the reaction have a half-life of 'just' 500 years — still not spectacular, but much safer. If there is a leak, the molten salt cools enough that it effectively seals in the thorium and prevents significant leaks. The technology doesn't require water, and can't easily be used to produce nuclear weapons. You can build reactors in the desert, far away from most cities, and without raising concerns that it will add to nuclear weapon stockpiles.

China is accordingly building the first commercial reactor in Wuwei, a desert city in the country's Gansu province. Officials also see this as a way to foster China's international expansion — it plans up to 30 in countries participating in the company's "Belt and Road" investment initiative. In theory, China can extend its political influence without contributing to nuclear arms proliferation.

That might worry the US and other political rivals that are behind on thorium reactors. The US-based Natrium reactor, for instance, is still in development. Even so, it might go a long way toward fighting climate change and meeting China's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. The country is still heavily dependent on coal energy, and there's no guarantee renewable sources will keep up with demand by themselves. Thorium reactors could help China wean itself off coal relatively quickly, especially small-scale reactors that could be built over shorter periods and fill gaps where larger plants would be excessive.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter just marked an important milestone. Space.comreports that Ingenuity crossed the one-mile mark for total distance flown with its 10th flight on July 24th, when it traveled over the Jezero Crater's "Raised Ridges" area. That may not sound like a lot of flying, but NASA was only planning a few test flights for Ingenuity before expanding the vehicle's role — the robotic aircraft wouldn't have covered nearly as much ground otherwise.

This was also the most ambitious flight to date. The helicopter had to swing past 10 different waypoints, and flew to a record-high altitude of 40ft during the 310ft journey. It also had to capture enough images to help NASA produce stereoscopic images of Raised Ridges and help inform a potential visit from the Perseverance rover.

It's not clear just how many more miles Ingenuity can rack up. The helicopter is the first of its kind, and tends to push limits with each new flight. The one-mile threshold is significant by itself, though — it suggests the aircraft might accomplish a lot during Perserverance's planned two-year mission, and possibly more.