MrBeast blames terrible Beast Games conditions on the CrowdStrike outage - Technology news - NewsLocker (2024)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images The CrowdStrike global IT outage that downed some 8.5 million Windows PCs, halting flights and affecting hospitals, banks and more, is now apparently also a scapegoat for the terrible conditions at the set of a reality game show competition put on by mega-popular YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, with $5 million on the line.
The New York Times is reporting that after 2,000 contestants arrived at Allegiant Stadium this July, they were barely fe

Mountain Bikers Are Rewilding Land by Paying the Government to Do It

A new nature-restoration project in Wales is being funded by an unusual source: thrill-seeking downhill lovers.

Zoom Is Going After Google and Microsoft With AI-Driven Docs

The video-conferencing app is trying to create an "everything workplace" app in a crowded market.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 review: tried and true

It’s not an ambitious smartwatch, but honestly, it doesn’t have to be.Continue reading…

Advertisem*nt

Max’s new homepage personalization tech makes viewers stick around, says exec

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge If you’ve been on Max lately, you might’ve noticed more personalized rows of content across your entire homepage. That’s because the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max rolled out a new “whole page optimization” system in the US last month to get viewers to keep coming back — and Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s working.
Liesel Kipp, Warner Bros. Discovery’s senior vice president of global streaming

Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Sam Altman again

Image: The Verge Elon Musk has revived his complaint against OpenAI after dropping a previous lawsuit, again alleging that the ChatGPT maker and two of its founders — Sam Altman and Greg Brockman — breached the company’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence technology to benefit humanity.
The new lawsuit filed in federal court in Northern California on Monday says that Altman and Brockman “assiduously manipulated Musk into co-founding their spurious non-pro

Yahoo’s new fantasy sports app is for the true diehards

Image: Yahoo Yahoo is a giant in the world of fantasy sports, but its app hasn’t gotten a meaningful update in years. Ahead of the 2024 NFL season, though, the company is rolling out a completely overhauled version of the Yahoo Fantasy Sports app that brings both a cleaner design and a huge amount of new content for fantasy players.
The new app is divided into three sections. The first thing that appears when you open the app is a list of all your fantasy teams across sports — footba

What Are Color Gamuts and Color Spaces in TVs and Monitors, and Do They Matter?

If you’re confused by all the jargon used to describe your new monitor, don’t worry. We’ve got you (and your color gamut) covered.

Advertisem*nt

Dacia Spring EV (2024) Review: Excellent Value for an Urban EV

This super-fun and likable urban all-electric runabout is packed with tech despite its rock-bottom price. Aside from the amazing value, it proves stateside EV makers need to up their game—fast.

Jane Goodall Thinks It’s Not Too Late to Save the World

The world, the famed primatologist says, isn’t what it used to be—but there’s still time to save it, if we treat crises like climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty as one.

How Project 2025 Would Put US Elections at Risk

Experts say the “nonsensical” policy proposal, which largely aligns with Donald Trump’s agenda, would weaken the US agency tasked with protecting election integrity, critical infrastructure, and more.

JLab Hear OTC Hearing Aid Review: Super Affordable

For the hearing-aid curious, these over-the-counter earbuds are amazingly affordable and effectively pull double duty.

CrowdStrike says it’s not to blame for Delta’s days-long outage

Image: The Verge CrowdStrike refutes Delta Air Lines’ allegations that the cybersecurity firm is to blame for a dayslong flight disruption following last month’s catastrophic system outage, saying that the airline rejected repeated offers to help restore impacted systems.In an interview with CNBC last week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the outage cost the company $500 million after more than 6,000 flights were grounded, and that the airline has “no choice” but to seek legal

OpenAI won’t watermark ChatGPT text because its users could get caught

Image: The Verge OpenAI has had a system for watermarking ChatGPT-created text and a tool to detect the watermark ready for about a year, reports The Wall Street Journal. But the company is divided internally over whether to release it. On one hand, it seems like the responsible thing to do; on the other, it could hurt its bottom line.
OpenAI’s watermarking is described as adjusting how the model predicts the most likely words and phrases that will follow previous ones, creating a detectab

The first-gen OnePlus Pad is selling for a new low of $379.99

The OnePlus Pad’s keyboard case and stylus run an additional $149.99 and $99.99, respectively. | Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge The $549.99 OnePlus Pad 2 may have just recently launched, but the original version remains a worthwhile option that’s now undercutting the new model’s price by $170. Now through August 6th, you can pick the first-gen OnePlus Pad at Woot for $379.99 ($100 off), its lowest price ever. Sure, the older Pad may not have a 12.1-inch display or a nifty vibra

The plastic Apple Watch SE could be for kids, and that’s actually exciting

The Apple Watch SE in its current form looks just like an Apple Watch. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge It’s impressive watching Apple sell people virtually the same Apple Watch design year in and year out, adding a feature here and there but changing precious little about the way it looks. It’s also fine — nobody actually needs to buy a new watch annually, but it does make the yearly refresh sort of ho-hum.
But there’s something rumored on the horizon that m

The 6 Best Cold Plunge Pools in 2024—I Spent Months Testing to Find the Best

Keen to try the latest wellness trend, I dipped out of my comfort zone. These are my favorite cold-water plunge pools for any budget.

Roku Pro Series TV Review: Bright and Easy to Use

If you have a family with kids, post-lunch cartoons, and video games, you need this bright TV with an easy-to-navigate interface.

How to find your oldest social media posts and delete them

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge We’ve been living with social media for a long time now — Facebook opened up to the public in 2006 — and that means a lengthy trail of posts stretching back through the years. While this does let you take a nostalgic trip into the past with just a few clicks, it can also bring up some embarrassing and awkward memories.
Maybe your Twitter takes from 10 years ago haven’t aged well, or there’s an ex-partner you’d rather no

The Breville Oracle Jet is a $2,000 computer that also makes coffee

I didn’t ask how much RAM it has. There’s no girl math in the world that can make the Breville Oracle Jet make sense for me, but boy is it nice to use.
Like most of the gadgets I test, the $1,999.95 espresso machine has a touchscreen. It connects to a wireless network and receives software updates that way. But unlike most gadgets I test, the Jet is designed to shoot hot water at high pressure and turn it into coffee.The Jet is an update to Breville’s high-end Oracle superautom

Logitech Combo Touch for iPad Pro (2024) Review: A Must-Have Keyboard Accessory

Its protective, durable, and easy to swap between work and play.

9 Best Action Cameras (2024): Underwater, 360, Compact, and More

Gearing up to shred the slopes or dive into the seas? These photography tools are made for danger.

To Study Tornados, Bring an Apocalypse-Proof Truck. And Rocket Launchers

A day of chasing storms with Reed Timmer's Dominator 3, the latest in extreme twister tech.

Best iPhone (2024): Which Model Should You Buy?

The iPhone 16 arrives in September. That means this is the worst moment to buy a new iPhone.

‘Gem’ of a Proof Breaks 80-Year-Old Record, Offers New Insights Into Prime Numbers

The proof creates stricter limits on potential exceptions to the famous Riemann hypothesis.

See the Perseids and Southern Delta Aquariids in a Stunning Double Meteor Shower

Across the Northern Hemisphere, August will see beautiful displays of meteors. Here's everything you need to know to enjoy them.

A pivotal online hub for ROM hacks goes news-only after two decades

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge ROMhacking.net, a longtime stalwart of the online classic gaming world mostly turned the lights off on Saturday. Nightcrawler, who created and runs ROMhacking, announced that the site, which has hosted community-made alterations for classic games, has stopped taking submissions and will only post news going forward.
ROM hacks like those the site hosted can be as minor as replacing the original Mario sprite with his Super Mario Bros. 3 incarnation, or as thorough

EcoFlow’s Power Hat is a floppy, phone-charging solar panel for your noggin

It’s absolutely brimming with solar power. | Image: EcoFlow EcoFlow’s new Power Hat must be the dorkiest piece of headgear I’ve ever heard of — and I think I love it? It’s a wide-brimmed floppy-ish sun hat full of solar cells that you can charge your phone with. EcoFlow says it can charge a 4,000mAh smartphone to capacity “in as fast as 3–4 hours.” Sounds ideal for casually scrolling feeds at a campsite or surviving in a sun-blasted, Mad Maxian des

Are we prepared for ‘Act 2’ of gen AI?

To be sure, the path from gen AI Act 1 to Act 2 will not be a straight one. It will require effort we've never seen before.Read More

Meta courts celebs like Awkwafina to voice AI assistants ahead of Meta Connect

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Judi Dench, Keegan-Michael Key, and Awkwafina are among multiple “actors and influencers” whose voices could become part of Meta’s AI offering, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The company is apparently working to wrap up deals quickly so it can develop and show off the new voices at its Meta Connect conference in September.
Specifically, at least one tool will be “a digital assistant product called MetaAI,” according to multipl