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X has confirmed it’s preventing users from searching Taylor Swift’s name after pornographic deepfakes of the artist began circulating on the platform this week. Visitors to the site started noticing on Saturday that some searches containing Swift’s name would only return an error message. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal on Saturday night, Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations, said, “This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.” This step comes days after the problem first became known.

X’s handling of the issue from the start has drawn criticism that it’s been slow to curb the spread of nonconsensual, sexually explicit images. After the images went viral on Wednesday, Swift’s fans took matters into their own hands to limit their visibility and get them removed, mass-reporting the accounts that shared the images and flooding the hashtags relating to the singer with positive content, NBC News reported earlier this week. Many of the offending accounts were later suspended, but not before they’d been seen in some cases millions of times. The Verge reported on Thursday that one post was viewed more than 45 million times.

In a statement posted on its platform later that day, X said, “Posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content. Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them. We're closely monitoring the situation to ensure that any further violations are immediately addressed, and the content is removed. We're committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users.”

But it was still possible to find the images in days after. 404Media traced the likely origin of the images to a Telegram group known for creating nonconsensual AI-generated images of women using free tools including Microsoft Designer. In an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Friday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the issue highlights what is the company’s responsibility, and “all of the guardrails that we need to place around the technology so that there’s more safe content that’s being produced.” He continued to say that “there’s a lot to be done there, and a lot being done there,” but also noted that the company needs to “move fast.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-confirms-it-blocked-taylor-swift-searches-to-prioritize-safety-153136902.html?src=rss

NBC News exclusively reports that the Biden administration is discussing using weapons and ammunition sales to Israel as leverage to persuade the Israeli government to scale back its military assault on Gaza. Fmr. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley explains why she’s staying in the Republican presidential race. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) discusses the president’s relationship with Israel. NBC News Washington Managing Editor Carol Lee reports on a “first-of-its-kind” fundraiser for the Biden campaign.

Enlarge (credit: AndreyPopov via Getty)

Spreadsheet blunders aren’t just frustrating personal inconveniences. They can have serious consequences. And in the last few years alone, there have been a myriad of spreadsheet horror stories.

In August 2023, the Police Service of Northern Ireland apologized for a data leak of “monumental proportions” when a spreadsheet that contained statistics on the number of officers it had and their rank was shared online in response to a freedom of information request.

There was a second overlooked tab on the spreadsheet that contained the personal details of 10,000 serving police officers.

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Annapurna is delaying the release of its upcoming narrative adventure game, Open Roads, by a few weeks so the team can do a little more refining. It’s now scheduled for release on March 28 instead of the originally planned date of February 22. The decision was made to “ensure the most polished experience for players,” a spokesperson for Annapurna told Engadget. 

Open Roads, which we had a chance to preview earlier this month, is a nostalgia-heavy experience that follows 16-year-old Tess Devine (voiced by Kaitlyn Dever) and her mother, Opal (Keri Russel), on a road trip to explore their family’s past. It features hand-drawn animations and, of course, carries the promise of deep, dark family secrets to unearth. It’ll be available for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/narrative-game-open-roads-has-been-delayed-by-a-month-221217266.html?src=rss

The original Erae Touch was one of the more interesting MPE controllers to come out in the last few years. But it's been on the market for less than three years. So it was something of a surprise when Embodme showed up to NAMM 2024 with Erae II, the next iteration of its customizable controller with significant upgrades and one unexpected new feature.

Now, it's important to note that the version of the Erae II I was able to test out was very early prototype. There were a few bugs, the construction definitely had some rough edges. But the company has plenty of time to iron those out. The Kickstarter campaign opens on February 15 with an expect ship date sometime in June. 

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

But the vision is already clear. The main surface is largely the same, a singular smooth expanse with RGB lights underneath it. Those are used to illustrate various layouts that can be customized. It can be a standard keyboard, a grid, faders, a step sequencer, et cetera. The design is definitely more refined, even at this early stage. It also acknowledges that while the customizability of the controller was a big draw, it perhaps relied too much on the desktop app and the playing surface for handling settings. 

The updated version has a number of buttons across the top for quickly swapping layouts, controlling the new MIDI looper and accessing other settings. There's also a small, but high resolution screen tucked in the top righthand corner next to a jog wheel. The viewing angles on the screen were solid and it's plenty sharp, but its size could pose some challenges. I'm not going to judge it by this very early version of the firmware, but I had to squint pretty hard to make out the tiny text laying out all the MIDI assignments.

The controller itself was very responsive, though. The new sensors (16,000 of them to be specific) were able to track my glides and subtle shifts in pressure with incredible accuracy. The company claims the playing surface has sub-millimeter accuracy. Obviously there's no way I could truly put that to the test on the show floor but, suffice it to say, it was accurate. 

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

I can already tell that the Erae requires quite a bit of nuance, though, to get truly expressive results from the aftertouch. The surface doesn't have a lot of give, so tiny changes in pressure can result in big changes to the sound. 

One of the surprising things is that the Erae II will have swappable skins, kind of like the Sensel Morph (RIP) or the Joué Play, but also, not. The unit I played had a silicone cover like the original that the company says is meant for those who want to play the Erae II with drum stick. It will will ship with a white fabric one though, which was specifically meant to improve the feel and responsiveness for those playing with their fingers. 

Changing the skins is a little involved, however. Because Embodme sees the Erae not simply as a tool for the studio, but as a live performance device it wanted to make sure the covers would be secure and standup to abuse. So you actually have to unscrew the frame to pop on a new skin. And since the display on the Erae is already customizable, it's not bothering to have skins with particular layouts, just different materials.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Embodme also added a ton of new connectivity options. The original simply had a USB-C port and a TRS MIDI out. But the Erae II will have two MIDI out ports, a MIDI in jack, two USB ports, with the ability to be either a host or a device, and 24 configurable analog outs that can send gate, trigger and CV to external gear. 

Obviously it's way to early to know for sure how well the Erae II will standup to real world use. But it's got a promising feature set and an intriguing design. If you want to be among the first to get your hands on one you'll be able to back it on Kickstarter starting February 15 with early bird prices of $549 or $649, depending on how early you hop on. When it reaches retail later in the year, however, it will be going for $799.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/embodme-erae-ii-hands-on-a-customizable-mpe-midi-controller-for-your-soft-synths-and-analog-gear-213059410.html?src=rss

We were so close to finally drifting on the cobblestone streets of Yharnam, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for Bloodborne Kart. And, it’ll be called something else when it does arrive. Lilith Walther, the developer behind the project, said the team has to “scrub the branding” off of the game and delay its release after Sony intervened. It was supposed to be released on January 31 for PC. The outcome isn’t exactly surprising, but it means the game will take shape a bit differently than planned — in a thread posted on X, Walther said, “This is a fan game no more!”

Bloodborne Kart, a retro-style racing game that started out as a meme, has generated a ton of support from fans who have been yearning for new Bloodborne content. In response to the latest development, many have joked that the whole saga has forced Sony, which owns the IP, to actually acknowledge the title for the first time in years. Walther previously released a free Bloodborne “demake” in the style of a PS1 game.

“So Sony contacted us,” Walther wrote in an update on Friday. “Long story short, we need to scrub the branding off of what was previously known as Bloodborne Kart. We will do this, but that requires a short delay. Don't worry, the game is still coming out! It'll just look slightly different.”

The developers planned to feature 12 racers styled after familiar Bloodborne characters, including The Hunter and The Doll from the Hunter’s Dream, with single-player and multiplayer modes. There were to be 16 maps and boss fights, so you could race against the likes of Father Gascoigne. It really sucks that they won’t be able to follow through with the original idea, because it looked awesome, but I have no doubt they’ll spin it into something equally great.

“We were honestly expecting something like this to happen and the idea of having full creative control is kind of exciting!” Walther wrote. There's no new release date just yet, but in the meantime, you can rewatch the Bloodborne Kart trailer on a loop and dream of what we almost had. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fan-made-bloodborne-kart-catches-heat-from-sony-forcing-developers-to-shift-gears-183652390.html?src=rss

NAMM is packed to the gills with synths, guitars, saxophones, et cetera. But, I promise you right now, the Dimension Tripper from Casio is the only wireless expression controller on the floor that you operate with your guitar strap. 

The concept is simple. It's an expression pedal. Just, not in pedal form. Now we've seen expression controllers in all sorts of shapes and sizes: Faders, rollers, even lasers. The Dimension Tripper does the same thing, except instead of rocking a pedal back and forth with your foot or sliding a fader back and forth with your hand, you pull down on your guitar itself.

There are two parts to the system. The transmitter goes between the end of your strap and the strap button on your guitar. One end of it is retractable and, as you stretch it out it sends information over Bluetooth to the receiver. Under ideal conditions there is about 20ms of lag, but even on the floor at NAMM with all of the interference it was barely noticeable.

The receiver is a relatively standard looking box that sits on your pedalboard and connects to your target pedal. A row of lights in the middle gives you visual feedback as you stretch out the sensor on the transmitter. 

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The two parts are a bit bulkier than I would have expected, though. The receiver has two foot switches and is basically the size of a standard guitar pedal. The transmitter is nearly 5 inches long and is 1 inch thick. You will notice it when you play, and will need to shorten your strap significantly.

Other than that, it works like any other expression controller. You can use it for energetic wah wah effects, or gentle volume swells or to crank up the weirdness on a ring modulator. It can even be used in place of a foot switch to turn on and off effect. So you could yank down hard at the start of the chorus to kick in an overdrive.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The concept is definitely gimmicky. But I have to admit it's fun and actually felt kind of natural. Most players move their guitar a bit when anyway, and this just felt like an extension of that. I had to be a little more emphatic and move with more conviction than I might normally, but I adapted pretty quickly. Is it practical? Probably not. But kudos to Casio for trying something different.

What's not clear is whether or not this will become an actual retail product. Right now Casio is running a crowdfunding campaign where you back the Dimension Tripper for 32,736 yen, or about $221. If the wireless expression controller has a life beyond that however is still up in the air. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/casios-dimension-tripper-lets-you-control-your-guitar-pedals-with-your-guitar-strap-200039380.html?src=rss

Fossil is officially getting out of the smartwatch business. Following months of speculation about the future of its Wear OS smartwatch lineup, which hasn’t seen a new model since 2021’s Gen 6, the company confirmed to The Verge on Friday that it’s abandoning the category altogether. There won’t be a successor to the Gen 6, but existing Fossil smartwatches will still get updates “for the next few years.”

In a statement to The Verge, a spokesperson said Fossil Group has “made the strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business,” citing the industry’s evolving landscape. “Fossil Group is redirecting resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide strong growth opportunities for us: designing and distributing exciting traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods under our own as well as licensed brand names.”

Fossil has been pretty quiet about its smartwatch plans lately, after an initial few years of steady releases, and the decision is going to come as a disappointment to anyone who’s been holding out hope for a Gen 7. While they were known to struggle in the battery life department, Fossil smartwatches are some of the nicest looking out there.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fossil-is-done-making-smartwatches-but-will-keep-releasing-updates-for-a-few-years-161958128.html?src=rss