EU regulators question Meta about the shutdown of CrowdTangle

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• August 16, 2024

Meta’s decision to shut down CrowdTangle, an analytics tool that was an “invaluable” resource to the research community, is drawing fresh scrutiny from European Union regulators. The EU Commission, which had already raised concerns about the social network’s plan to discontinue the tool ahead of global elections in 2024, is now pressing Meta for more details about its work with researchers.

The EU Commission previously cited the impending shutdown of CrowdTangle as part of a broader investigation into the company’s handling of disinformation campaigns and election-related policies. Now, just days after CrowdTangle was shut off despite pleas from researchers and civil society organizations to keep it online through the end of the year, regulators are pointedly reminding Meta of its “obligation” under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to allow outside researchers access to its data.

“The Commission is requesting Meta to provide more information on the measures it has taken to comply with its obligations to give researchers access to data that is publicly accessible on the online interface of Facebook and Instagram, as required by the DSA, and on its plans to update its election and civic discourse monitoring functionalities,” the EU Commission wrote in a statement. “Specifically, the Commission is requesting information about Meta’s content library and application programming interface (API), including their eligibility criteria, the application process, the data that can be accessed and functionalities.”

Meta has previously pointed to the Meta Content Library as a replacement for CrowdTangle. But access to the Meta Content Library is much more tightly controlled, and researchers have said it doesn’t replicate all of CrowdTangle’s functionality.

“We announced earlier this year that we would discontinue CrowdTangle because it did not provide a complete picture of what is happening on our platforms,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Engadget. “We have built new, more comprehensive tools for researchers, called the Meta Content Library & API, and we remain in discussion with the European Commission on this matter.”

Update August 16, 2024, 3:15PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from Meta. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-regulators-question-meta-about-the-shutdown-of-crowdtangle-175641308.html?src=rss

Paul Hollywood defends wife over pub sale

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• August 16, 2024

The Great British Bake Off judge says his family has faced ‘vindictiveness’ over Smarden pub sale.

New Windows 11 build removes ancient, arbitrary 32GB size limit for FAT32 disks

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• August 16, 2024

But the Windows NT-era disk formatting UI hasn’t been fixed yet.

ISP to Supreme Court: We shouldn’t have to disconnect users accused of piracy

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• August 16, 2024

Cox tries to get contributory infringement ruling in Sony lawsuit overturned.

The 11 Best Clothing Subscription Boxes for Men, Tested by Style Editors

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• August 16, 2024

Stitch Fix and Urbane Box came out on top in our testing.

Take $150 off a set of Sony noise-canceling headphones, plus the rest of the week’s best tech deals

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• August 16, 2024

It’s Friday, which means it’s once again time for us to round up all the gadget and tech gear discounts that are catching our eye. Our latest selection includes all-time lows on Sony’s still-excellent WH-1000XM4 headphones, both sizes of Apple’s latest MacBook Air, the adorable Nintendo Switch Lite, and a handful of wireless earbuds and gaming accessories we recommend in our various buying guides. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/take-150-off-a-set-of-sony-noise-canceling-headphones-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-171225186.html?src=rss

‘Armed and organised – like a paramilitary group’: Inside West Bank village targeted by Israeli settlers

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• August 16, 2024

In a picturesque hillside village, in the occupied West Bank, the latest victim of this conflict was being buried.

Meta puts Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR on ice

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• August 16, 2024

Here’s some bad news for those longing to run over civilians in a monster truck while in virtual reality. The VR-focused remake of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is “on hold indefinitely,” according to reporting by IGN.

This refresh was announced three years ago and was originally to be a Quest 2 title. Here we are, deep in the lifecycle of the Quest 3, and nothing. In other words, the news isn’t exactly surprising. This doesn’t mean the project will never come to fruition, but the words “on hold indefinitely” doesn’t inspire us with hope.

“GTA: San Andreas is on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects,” Meta Quest VR’s official YouTube account confirmed in the comments of an unrelated trailer. “We look forward to working with our friends at Rockstar in the future.”

The VR remake was first announced during the Facebook Connect event in October 2021. That’s right. The original announcement occurred before the Meta branding. At that time, the company described GTA: San Andreas VR as “a project many years in the making.” It looks like three more years on top of that didn’t help to create a finished product.

It’s worth noting that we never even got any screenshots or in-game footage. There hasn’t even been a trailer. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg likely played a build at some point, because he once wrote “this new version” of the game will “offer players an entirely new way to experience this iconic open world in virtual reality.”

There has been no reason given as to the indefinite hold. It’s likely been an extremely expensive undertaking to translate the game into VR, and this is at a time when reports indicate that the market is shrinking. So that could be it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-puts-grand-theft-auto-san-andreas-vr-on-ice-170702048.html?src=rss

The adorable building game Tiny Glade is coming to Steam on September 23

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• August 16, 2024

The castle construction game Tiny Glade that’s got the Internet uttering a collective “Awwwww, ain’t that cuuuute?” has a release date. Wholesome Games announced today in a new trailer that Tiny Glade will be released on September 23 on Steam. If you can’t wait that long or just wanna get a head start on your virtual village, a demo is available right now on the game’s Steam page.

Tiny Glade is a sandbox building game that seems to go against the competitive grain of most construction games. City building and construction games are fun, but maintaining a huge, virtual metropolis can get harrowing sometimes. You’re just trying to relax at the end of a hard day by playing a game and before you know it, you’re stressing over things like sewer taxes, industrial zones and giant monster attacks.

Tiny Glade is carving out its own space in the building game genre by eliminating all those annoying municipal obstacles and just letting you build something simply for the joy of building it. You can construct huge towering castles or just an adorable little British hamlet that would look like the perfect setting for an Elizabethan-era love story.

The level of detail that you can control is stunning as well. As you move your cursor to build a brick wall or tiled roof, you can see every individual piece pop out of thin air and gradually pile up into your imaginative creations. Everything you can click in your model village can be altered, added or decorated. There are tools to alter the terrain so you can create hills or smooth out the land and add a pristine pond with lily pads, trees and even wildlife like ducks.

Best of all, you don’t have to worry if your hours of creation are in danger of being sacked and torn down by invading hordes or warring factions. Based on this trailer, it looks like Tiny Glade is the relaxing gaming equivalent of taking a long, warm bath.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-adorable-building-game-tiny-glade-is-coming-to-steam-on-september-23-165958935.html?src=rss

What Is Gemini Live and How Do You Use It?

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• August 16, 2024

Google is rolling out this new voice assistant, and now you can have real-time, natural conversations with its chatbot. Here’s what it’s like.