This report says that despite the billions in funding approved in 2021, only Ohio and New York have used them for new EV charging stations so far as states navigate environmental impact and CCS vs. NACS.

It also cites a survey finding that 80 percent of people said a lack of chargers is one of their reasons for not buying an EV, suggesting the slow rollout (we said patience would be required) could temper demand. And where chargers exist, some have found that due to unreliability, they’re not guaranteed to provide more than a shopping convenience.

Rockstar’s attempt at launching Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition in 2021 went so poorly that the PC version was removed from sale for a while. Now, the bundle (GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas) is available on mobile devices and for no extra cost if you have Netflix.

So how does it run? Digital Foundry’s iOS analysis is here, finding that despite an uneven framerate and iffy gamepad support, it “probably offers the best portable experience at the moment.”

The hacking multi-tool Flipper Zero enables a Bluetooth spamming prank that, as Bleeping Computer pointed out this morning, can have serious consequences when it interferes with critical connected health devices.

Now there’s a defense, according to Bleeping: A python script called “Wall of Flippers” can detect when someone is, to clumsily borrow a Wi-Fi hacking term, wardriving for devices to spam. The script also details that can help figure out where the attack is coming from..

It’s not just that you’re more likely to come across cowboy boots in those places. They’re also increasingly home to technology workers as demand for their skills comes from more companies in more industries in more cities.

The Wall Street Journal hits that and other factors leading to the shrinkage — both in percentage and absolute figures — of the tech workforce in former strongholds of the industry like the Bay Area and New York City.

If 2023 could just, like, stop with the news now, that’d be great. But there’s still lots to discuss! We talked Watch bans and Beeper battles and streaming mergers and Peloton pivots and a bunch more.

Then we looked back at some of The Verge’s most popular stories from the year that was, and asked ourselves: were these really the biggest stories of the year? There were some surprises — and some stinkers. Click here to listen in your preferred podcast player or watch the YouTube version below.

And no, it’s not about the larger 1-inch CMOS sensors. DJI's Osmo Pocket 3 camera won me over with its cleverly designed screen, impressive boot up speed, simplicity and versatility. Of course, it also helps to have really good image quality.

In this entry into the list of lawsuits over unpaid Twitter bills, Courthouse News reports Mark Schobinger’s class action lawsuit is over unpaid 2022 annual bonuses. Schobinger, notably, is Twitter’s former senior director of compensation.

He says execs’ promises of a 50 percent payout for those who remained through Q1 of 2023 kept employees around during Elon’s “hardcore” takeover, but now the company argues its oral promise wasn’t enforceable. The judge didn’t buy that, writing that “Twitter’s contrary arguments all fail,” so the case will proceed.

FromSoftware has announced that it will shut down the PS3 and Xbox 360 servers for Dark Souls II on March 31st, 2024 — just weeks after its 10th anniversary. The developer is also shutting off online services for Armored Core: Verdict Day on the same day.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is headed back to IMAX 70mm theaters starting January 12th. However, the (reportedly 600-pound) film will only be shown at 13 locations in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK.

The devastation of 2023’s great video game layoff continues. Today, Versus Evil, a publisher focusing on indie games including The Banner Saga and Pillars of Eternity II, announced that it’s closing — days before the Christmas holidays.

Lance James, head of production at Versus Evil, wrote that the closure “wasn’t a Versus Evil decision or choice” meaning the decision was likely handed down from parent company and Hello Neighbor publisher tinyBuild. Earlier this month, tinyBuild reported impending layoffs in the face of what it called an “incredibly challenging year.” It also received a $2 million dollars investment from Atari just yesterday.

That’s an astounding 96 tracks under the microscope. And the top pick is exactly right.

Max has renewed The Gilded Age for a third season. The period drama, originated by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and focuses on the lives of New York’s upper crust (and their beautiful gowns) in the 1880s, wrapped its second season on December 17th.

The show’s actors apparently weren’t expecting a renewal and took to social media to celebrate the news along with the show’s growing legion of fans. It’s Mrs. George Russell’s world and we’re all living in it.

A few days after an abysmal launch that saw its development studio shut down, The Day Before is officially going offline.

“The Day Before will be retired and the servers will be turned off on 22 January 2024,” read a statement on the game’s X account.

Initially, developer Fntastic and publisher Mytona was working with Steam to refund players who requested one, but now all players who have purchased the game will proactively get refunded.

A new set of draft rules published on Friday would require developers to limit the amount of money players can spend in-game and display pop-ups to alert users of “irrational spending.”

The rules would also ban incentives such as daily sign-in rewards as well as large tips to game streamers. News of the proposal sent shares of Chinese tech giants like Tencent and NetEase tumbling.

As part of a recent chatbot comparison, I (ambitiously) decided to bake chocolate cakes based on recipes from ChatGPT, Bard, and a control cake from the food blog Sally’s Baking Blog. I thought everyone who tasted the cakes would choose Sally’s, aka the one that hit all my chocolate cake wants, but somehow, the runaway favorite has been ChatGPT. Yes, it based its recipe on something else, but it made good enough changes to win over an actual human-written recipe.
My intrinsic need to believe humans with actual taste buds can do better has been challenged, and I do not like it.

France has introduced a new law that will tax music streamers 1.2 percent of their domestic revenue to support local music. Spotify’s music lead in France and the Benelux region has been railing against the move, and announced on X on Wednesday that the company will pull its sponsorship from two French music festivals.

Lionsgate’s desire to separate its film and TV production arms from Starz has been clear for some time now.

But the entertainment group revealed today that it and Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp. want to take the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) route in order to form Lionsgate Studios Corp. — “a publicly traded vehicle able to raise fresh capital and merge with existing businesses.”

Legal blogger Ken White (aka Popehat) isn’t outright ditching Substack over its decision to keep monetizing Nazi content. But he finds its claim of being a principled upholder of free expression, rather than a company pulling a widely recognized branding trick, a bit risible:

The brand is effective and lucrative. The “we’re the noble defenders of civilization, upholding free thought from the onslaught of the woke hordes” sells these days. It sells even when free thought is actually under more profound assault from cynical and powerful and absolutely not woke forces. It sells even though — as I will get to in a minute — there’s a difference between tolerance and platforming.

The New York Times reports that there was a meeting “with the department’s antitrust lawyers” on December 12th — a few days after Apple first blocked the app’s iMessage for Android solution.

The DOJ has an ongoing antitrust probe into Apple. Meanwhile, a handful of legislators would like the green bubble drama to stop, too.

Urtopia, an Indiegogo darling that sells “the world’s smartest e-bikes” direct-to-consumers, spends as much time marketing its bikes as it does saddling them with superfluous tech. Now it’s pushing an Iron Man “Jarvis” feature ahead of CES complete with smart ring activation that’s so absurd I just had to share.