A report by CBS 17 in Raleigh goes into how some of the communities in North Carolina’s mountains are communicating after the floods.

In Asheville, they said some people and organizations with Starlink satellite dishes have set them up at shelters so others can get online, along with “Satellite Cells on Light Trucks” and other temporary cellular towers.

A Threads post that I recently saw opened my eyes to a fun trick with Apple’s iOS 18 iMessage effects: You can make little emoji / ASCII-style animations with them.

I lost the original post (if that was you, let me know!), but I immediately used the idea. If you’ve done this, feel free to share your best ones. Below is a gallery of mine.

Spooky vibes can only do so much to make horror movies really sing, but the latest trailer for Nosferatu is a testament to Robert Eggers’ ability to conjure a terrifying atmosphere without ever actually showing you a monster.

Instead of a swipe up to answer screen, Android Authority reports that an alternate screen found in a recent APK features a decline button on the left and an answer button on the right, resembling Apple’s iPhone setup.

Some Android OEMs like Samsung use a similar screen (with the answer button on the left), but so far, not Google.

Debuting under the company’s “Bright Arts” line of collectibles, Square Enix is releasing six miniature replicas of classic Sega consoles including the Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast in multiple regional variants.

Each tiny console includes a matching controller and will sell for ¥4,400 (around $30) when they launch in Japan starting on January 25th, 2025.

Would your driving experience be improved if a former Orc Warchief handled the navigation? Probably not, but World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has teamed up with Waze to make that happen anyway.

The “Thrall” voice option can be activated in the latest version of Waze, alongside some nerdy extras — like new Horde and Alliance moods, and turning your mount (erm, vehicle) avatar into a Red Drake.

Elago has updated its AW5 Hang Case so that the silicone Game Boy homage is now compatible with the Apple AirPods 4 featuring active noise cancellation. The $18.99 case doesn’t play any retro games, but it will help protect the AirPods 4’s charging case from scuffs and damage if dropped, while still allowing features like wireless charging and Find My to continue to work.

We want our kids to grow up in a world that’s better than this one. I grew up in an awesome world for developers and opportunity, the early days of Apple II computers and PCs, and anybody growing up, coming of age in this industry right now, is best case going to be an Apple and Google serf. That has to change. That must change.

Not surprising to hear the man behind “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” say this, but it really does encapsulate his war with the tech industry. More on the latest lawsuit here.

Not as fast as Epic might have hoped — it’s targeting 100 million by the end of the year — but CEO Tim Sweeney tells journalists that goal is still “totally achievable.”

Meanwhile, it’s suing Samsung and Google over the “Auto Blocker” feature that, by default, stops users from installing that store on new Samsung phones.

The official Pixel Buds web app is now available for Windows (version 11) and macOS (running Sonoma 14 or newer) allowing more desktop users to manage firmware updates, battery levels, and specific controls like ANC and multipoint connectivity.

Prior to this update, Pixel Buds users needed a Chromebook or Android phone to access advanced features.

Amazon Prime has added every episode of The Legend of Vox Machina to YouTube, with all 24 episodes set to be removed again once season three launches on October 3rd.

That could bring some new fans to the series, and is a great way to speedrun the original 440+ hour Critical Role D&D campaign it's based on.

The markdown comes courtesy of Fidelity which now values its initial $19.66 million investment in X at just $4.18 million.

The asset manager, which helped Musk acquire the social network formerly known as Twitter, has further reduced the value of its holding in X to a total markdown of 78.7 percent as of August’s end, based on newly released disclosures from Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund.

The best PC/Switch/Steam Deck gamepad I've ever used. Top-tier joysticks and wireless, great battery life, gyro, and rumble, convenient dock, can wake Switch and/or OLED Deck wirelessly from couch. Comfy, too! If it had swappable battery and saved multiple Bluetooth pairings, it'd truly be Ultimate.

Note: If you buy something from this link, we might get affiliate revenue.

The rocket’s second stage “experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn” and missed its landing target following yesterday’s flight, SpaceX posted.

The company is investigating the root cause. In the meantime, as Space notes, a California satellite launch that was scheduled for today has been postponed.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act yesterday aimed at safeguarding “neural data,” reports The New York Times.

The bill extends the same level of protections to neural data that it does for other data already considered sensitive under the California Consumer Privacy Act, such as facial images, DNA and fingerprints, known as biometric information.

Here’s an idea for a Sunday afternoon project: A Reddit user managed to generate a podcast using NotebookLM — Google’s generative AI notes software — in which the fake hosts’ cheerful “banter” is about learning they’re not real and are being shut off, apparently using a prompt like the one from this thread.

You can hear more about NotebookLM in a recent Vergecast interview with one of the Google folks building it.

The Waymo car was trying to make a turn and stopped as Vice President Harris’ motorcade was arriving at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, halting the motorcade, according to The San Francisco Standard.

A police officer was able to move the car. We reached out to Waymo, SF police, and the VP’s campaign to learn more. For now, here’s video from ABC 7 News in the Bay Area.