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Today’s Storystream

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Microsoft is removing WordPad from Windows 11 later this year.

The basic WordPad app has shipped as part of Windows since Windows 95. but Microsoft announced last year that it’s removing it from Windows 11. Now we have a rough date for the removal. “WordPad will be removed from all editions of Windows starting in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025,” says Microsoft. We’re expecting version 24H2 of Windows 11 later this year, and hopefully with a much better update name.


Farewell, WordPad.
Farewell, WordPad.
Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge
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Sega is laying off 240 staff in Europe.

The company’s latest cost-cutting efforts — which include selling off Vancouver-based Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment — impact the Sega Europe office, and UK-based Sega Hardlight and Creative Assembly studios.

In an email to staff seen by Eurogamer, Sega Europe CEO Jurgen Post said that “change is necessary to secure the future of our games business.” The news was announced less than a day after Sega’s US union ratified its first contract.


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Galaxy AI starts rolling out for the S23.

Are you’re using an older Samsung device and jealously eying up the Galaxy AI features available with this year’s phones? Well good news; Samsung has started rolling out its AI-equipped One UI 6.1 update to the Galaxy S23, S23 FE, Z Flip 5, and Z Fold 5, starting today. SamMobile reports that the update has arrived for Verizon devices in the US, and unlocked devices will follow next month.


Elon Musk has a new pay-to-play X Premium gambit.

Elon's X Premium package pitches have included forcing them on celebrities, bundling access to an AI bot of uncertain value, and a chance at a slice of ad revenue generated by other paying customers, in addition to an edit button, blog posts, and fewer ads.

Now he's offering Premium or Premium Plus (normally $8 or $16 per month) as a free sweetener for accounts with at least 2,500 "Verified subscriber" followers (5,000 for Plus) that presumably also pay for access.


"Going forward, all ? accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free"
Buy 2,500, get one free
Image: Elon Musk (X)
Scientists reveal the magnetic structure of black holes with new images.

Scientists for the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration say the magnetic structure of the Milky Way’s central Sagittarius A* black hole is “strikingly similar” to the bigger singularity in the middle of the galaxy M87, writes Phys.org.

They discovered this by comparing polarized images of the two. One researcher told Phys.org that this discovery could mean “this structure is common to all black holes.”


Comparison of the two black holes, each showing a magnetic pattern resembling that of water going down a drain.
“Strikingly similar” magnetic structures.
Image: Event Horizon Telescope

Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google

The AI search tools are getting better — but they don’t yet understand what a search engine really is and how we really use them.

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Even LinkedIn is trying TikTok-like videos now.

LinkedIn confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing a short-form video feed housed within a new “video” tab on the app, which one user shows off here.

The Microsoft-owned platform is the latest to jump on the vertical video bandwagon, following Twitch, Reddit, Spotify, and even Netflix in experimenting with similar features.


Melting ice, missing seconds.

University of California geologist Duncan Agnew published research in Nature saying the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has contributed to slowing Earth’s rotation,?reports Space.com.

While timekeepers have already agreed to stop adding leap seconds by 2035, Agnew claims a negative one will be necessary by 2029 and would’ve been required sooner if not for the effects of climate change. If that’s true — and not everyone agrees that it is — international timekeeping guidelines and the world’s computers will need updates.


Graph showing the time differences including or excluding melting accelerated by climate changes.
An adapted graph based on Agnew’s research.
Image:?Nature.com
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OpenAI is experimenting with sharing revenue with builders in its GPT Store.

When the GPT Store opened in January, OpenAI promised it would pay creators by the first quarter of the year. The company has now announced that it is testing a payment model.

The GPT Store makes it easy for anyone to build a GPT, which is essentially a custom AI assistant that can do anything from summarizing a PDF to suggesting furniture purchases.


US v. Apple: everything you need to know

It’s all about Apple’s vise grip over the smartphone market and the iPhone’s locked-down ecosystem.

Databricks says its new AI model performs better than Llama 2, Grok, and Mixtral.

Wired reports that DBRX, a new open-source large language model from data science firm Databricks, not only beat xAI, Meta, and Mistral’s offerings, it also came “shockingly close” to OpenAI’s GPT-4 in language understanding, answering math problems, and programming.

Databricks says it tested the model’s safety with human evaluators, a precaution as concern over powerful AI models being open-sourced grows.


Screenshot of DBRX performance benchmarks
DBRX outperformed other open sourced models according to a chart released by Databricks.
Databricks
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Amazon has poured $2.75 billion more into AI startup Anthropic.

This comes as part of Amazon’s deal to invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, starting with an initial $1.25 billion last September. Anthropic is the AI company behind the Claude 32 family of models, which the company claims outperforms ChatGPT and Google Gemini.


The Vision Pro is getting some new Apple Arcade games.

Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, and Spire Blast will each get Vision Pro “spatial” apps tomorrow, Apple shared in a release emailed to The Verge.

Also, rhythm game Synth Ridersaka the only game I’ve been coming back to besides bullet hell shooter Void-X — has been updated with Game Center leaderboards and a pass-the-headset Party Mode.


A GIF of Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City running in a floating window on the Vision Pro.
Alto’s Odyssey running on the Vision Pro.
Image: Apple
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Sega union ratifies its first contract.

In spite of unfair labor practice complaints and a round of layoffs, the 150 members of the AEGIS (CWA) union at Sega of America have a new contract. It guarantees members annual wage increases, warnings before layoffs, hybrid work schedule commitments, and severance packages.

There has been a growing unionization movement in the video game industry over the last few years, and AEGIS’s new contract marks the first ratified contract at a major developer.


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The Apple Vision Pro is $150 off... if you’re feeling lucky.

Woot is selling the mixed reality headset with a one-year Apple warranty for $3,299 ($200 off), the first discount we’ve seen.

But there’s a catch: they all ship with a 21W light seal and small-sized headbands. Buying a seal separately from Apple costs $200 and the headbands are $99 apiece, so you might pay more than the retail price if you aren’t happy with the fit.

Update March 27th, 4:41PM ET: Adjusted pricing and added more specific sizing details, courtesy of Woot.


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Disney and Florida’s land battle is over.

Both sides came to an agreement on Wednesday that would end a nearly two-year-long legal battle over the self-governed special district that DeSantis took over from Disney.

Disney agreed to recognize its last-minute rule change in the district in 2023 as “null and void.” The company also agreed to drop its public records lawsuit against the district.


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The toaster was OP, but I did my best.

Where can you battle a toaster with a waffle iron? Wield a barcode scanner for fun? Navigate a digital character through a real-life paper pop-up book?

The Game Developers Conference Alt.Ctrl showcase, that’s where. It’s my happy place at GDC, and this year I wanted to share some of the zany magic with ya’ll.


Can AI fix online shopping?

Companies like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify promise AI tools will improve our experience of buying things online. The fashion brand Finesse even uses AI to design clothes — but that doesn’t mean products are actually good.

I tried $400 worth of AI clothes, plus product image and text generators to see how they live up to the AI hype.


Go read how this “passive income” ChatGPT scam is stealing people’s faces and voices the old-fashioned way.

Matt Novak has a banger of a new entry for the Internet of Shit. Over at Gizmodo, he’s discovered a YouTube scam that doesn’t just drain your crypto wallet — it also scams the actors hired to read bullshit testimonials about how they make money while they sleep.

Who needs AI when you can get a real, live human to legitimize your scheme on camera?


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What about other Chinese-owned apps?

It’s not just TikTok — other apps like Shein, Temu, and WeChat are popular in the US, too. The TikTok ban focuses on ByteDance-owned subsidiaries including CapCut and Lemon8, but includes a carve out for popular shopping apps, The Washington Post reports. On the other hand, “everything app” WeChat could be in a gray area.


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“The most capable and versatile smartphone camera around” is only available in China.

Verge alum Sam Byford did a deep dive on Oppo’s new Find X7 Ultra for his Multicore newsletter. It’s a great read for photography nerds like me.

This is the first phone to ship with two periscope cameras. It’s stacked with today’s best sensors. And there’s a neat Master mode that makes the Find X7 Ultra’s images feel less computational and more genuine.

If only a gadget like this could be easily obtained in the US...


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