All posts tagged: public

Don’t Expect Much From iOS 18.5 Public Beta 1, Small Changes Coming

Don’t Expect Much From iOS 18.5 Public Beta 1, Small Changes Coming

Published by skeptic

Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18.5 on April 15, more than two weeks after the company released iOS 18.4 to the general public. While that update brought more emoji to all iPhones, the latest beta brings some bug fixes and some small changes to the Mail apps of developers and public beta testers, but not much else.  Apple/Screenshot by CNET Read more: An Expert’s Guide to iOS 18 Because this is a beta, I recommend downloading it only on something other than your primary device. This isn’t the final version of iOS 18.5, so the update might be buggy and battery life may be impacted — it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device. Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18.5, so more features could land on your iPhone when it is released. There’s no word on when Apple will release the iOS 18.5 update to the general public. Here’s what could appear on your iPhone with iOS 18.5 soon. And just a reminder that …

Quick Charge | hydrogen hype falls flat amid very public failures

Quick Charge | hydrogen hype falls flat amid very public failures

Published by skeptic

On today’s hyped up hydrogen episode of Quick Charge, we look at some of the fuel’s recent failures and billion dollar bungles as the fuel cell crowd continues to lose the credibility race against a rapidly evolving battery electric market. We’re taking a look at some of the recent hydrogen failures of 2025 – including nine-figure product cancellations in the US and Korea, a series of simultaneous bus failures in Poland, and European executives, experts, and economists calling for EU governments to ditch hydrogen and focus on the deployment of a more widespread electric trucking infrastructure. Source Links Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news. Advertisement – scroll for more content Got news? Let us know!Drop us a line at [email protected]. You can also rate …

Even More Venmo Accounts Tied to Trump Officials in Signal Group Chat Left Data Public

Even More Venmo Accounts Tied to Trump Officials in Signal Group Chat Left Data Public

Published by skeptic

Venmo did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment. In a statement given to WIRED in response to questions about the Waltz and Wiles accounts, spokesperson Erin Mackey said, “We take our customers’ privacy seriously, which is why we let customers choose their privacy settings on Venmo for both their individual payments and friends lists—and we make it incredibly simple for customers to make these private if they choose to do so.” “From my perspective, as a veteran, everyone is entitled to use the applications and services they feel are necessary to live their lives,” says Tara Lemieux, a 35-year veteran of the US intelligence community including the National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and supporting agencies. “That said, when you post anything in those third-party applications and you don’t understand how that information can be shared or exploited, you are taking a risk for our nation—and that’s not acceptable.” For Lemieux, while public transactions on Venmo might appear harmless, foreign intelligence services—particularly signals intelligence agencies—look for patterns: who’s paying whom, how often, …

Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public

Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public

Published by skeptic

Many of the accounts appear to belong to local and national politicians and political operatives ranging from US representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas to a former mayor of Deltona, Florida, as well as venture capitalists, defense industry entrepreneurs, and executives like Christian Brose, the president of defense tech giant Anduril. (Crenshaw’s office and Anduril did not respond to requests for comment.) One of the most notable appears to belong to Wiles, one of Trump’s most trusted political advisers. That account’s 182-person friend list includes accounts sharing the names of influential figures like Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, and Hope Hicks, Trump’s former White House communications director. While none of the Venmo transactions for the account listed for Waltz, Wiles, or Barrett were publicly visible, it appears that none of them had opted out of sharing their contact list, allowing their friend lists to remain visible to the public. After WIRED reached out to the White House for comment, both Waltz and Wiles appeared to change their Venmo privacy settings to hide their friend lists. …

Alabama Public Library Service Defunds Fairhope Public Library; City Council Will Not Follow Suit

Alabama Public Library Service Defunds Fairhope Public Library; City Council Will Not Follow Suit

Published by skeptic

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View All posts by Kelly Jensen On Thursday, March 20, the Alabama Public Library Service Board of Trustees (APLS) voted to defund the Fairhope Public Library (FPL). APLS Chairman John Wahl stated that the library was violating state policies related to protecting children from “inappropriate” material in the library. Wahl, who was appointed Chair of the APLS in September 2024, is also the current chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. One of the Republican Party’s goals under Alabama Governor Kay Ivey over the last several years has been targeting library funding. In 2024, Alabama updated its laws and administrative codes, permitting the APLS to withhold funds from libraries that do not have policies which remove or restrict “sexually explicit or other …

Blue Ant Media Go Public Acquiring Boat Rocker Media Reverse IPO

Blue Ant Media Go Public Acquiring Boat Rocker Media Reverse IPO

Published by skeptic

Indie studio Blue Ant Media, producer of unscripted series like Canada’s Drag Race and Northwoods Survival, has unveiled plans for a reverse IPO to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange by acquiring assets from Boat Rocker Media Inc. Blue Ant, a private company controlled by former Alliance Atlantis head Michael McMillan, will go public via a reverse-takeover of Insight Productions, Jam Filled Entertainment and Proper Television picked up from Boat Rocker Media. As part of the deal, Boat Rocker Media will acquire all shares of Blue Ant, at a price of $2.25 each, or a 125 percent premium to the March 21 closing price of Boat Rocker Media stock. After the completion of the transaction, shares in Blue Ant Media Corp. will trade on the TSO. As part of the transaction, Blue Ant shareholders are expected to own a 73.5 percent stake in the Toronto-based media company, with Boat Rocker Media shareholders retaining a 26.5 percent holding. Blue Ant said it generated CAN$196 million (US$137 million) in revenues in its most recent fiscal year ending …

Overwhelming public support for assisted dying – public mood unchanged

Overwhelming public support for assisted dying – public mood unchanged

Published by skeptic

New research from the highly respected British Social Attitudes Survey confirms that public support for assisted dying remains as high ever, with 79% of Britons in favour of allowing doctors to assist eligible terminally ill people to die if they request it.  The findings, published by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), show that public opinion on this issue has remained stable since the last time it was measured through the Survey in 2016, when 78% were recorded as being in favour. Nathan Stilwell, Assisted Dying Campaigner at Humanists UK, said: ‘Given nearly four fifths of the public in support, it’s clear that a compassionate dying law commands more support than virtually every other issue in British politics.  ‘This latest research confirms what we already know: the public overwhelmingly supports giving dying people the right to choice and dignity at the end of life.  ‘With the Assisted Dying Bill now before Parliament, MPs should listen to their constituents and act. Our laws should reflect compassion and autonomy, not force people to suffer needlessly.’ In …

Study Shows 86% Increase In Sexual Violence On French Public Transport

Study Shows 86% Increase In Sexual Violence On French Public Transport

Published by skeptic

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news, There has been an 86% rise in sexual violence on public transport in France since 2016, with much of the surge happening as a result of mass migration. Figures released by the National Observatory on Violence against Women (Miprof) show that sexual violence in 2024 increased by 6 per cent over the previous year and 9 per cent over 2022 numbers. Since 2016, after which France experienced a surge in mass migration, the figure is up by a whopping 86 per cent. 44 per cent of victims were located in the Paris region, with women being the victims on 91 per cent of occasions, with 75 per cent of victims being under the age of 30 and 36 per cent of those being minors. “It should be noted that this data comes at the same time that France’s migration population has exploded,” reports Remix News. “With 63 percent of those arrested for sexual assault and 92 percent for petty theft in public transport being foreigners, according to data from 2019. …

Public backs decriminalisation for those supporting loved ones to access assisted dying abroad

Public backs decriminalisation for those supporting loved ones to access assisted dying abroad

Published by skeptic

New evidence from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has revealed that a majority of the English public believes family members and friends who help loved ones travel abroad for an assisted death should not face criminal investigation. The findings, based on a Citizens’ Jury and two national surveys, reinforce growing calls for compassionate reform in the UK’s approach to assisted dying. Humanists UK welcomes this report as further evidence of the urgent need for reform.  Currently, anyone assisting a person in traveling abroad to access assisted dying may face police investigation and potential prosecution. But a landmark Citizens’ Jury – the first of its kind in England – found that this approach is widely viewed as unjust. The Jury concluded that assisting a loved one in these circumstances should be decriminalised. This sentiment was echoed by 68% of survey respondents, reflecting a clear public mandate for change. These findings come at a pivotal moment as Parliament debates the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. While the Bill proposes to legalise assisted dying in …

UK public EV charge points surpass 75,000 as infrastructure booms

UK public EV charge points surpass 75,000 as infrastructure booms

Published by skeptic

The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure has hit a significant milestone, with the number of public charge points surpassing 75,000. According to the latest data from Zapmap, as of the end of February 2025, there are 75,675 public EV charge points across the country. This represents an impressive 32% year-on-year increase from February 2024, when the total stood at 57,290. Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zapmap, said: “Having 75,000 public charge points available across the different charging use cases is a significant milestone for the UK EV market. “An extensive network of public charging, especially high visibility hubs, helps drive confidence for the next wave of drivers who will be making the switch to electric over the next few years. “As the infrastructure continues to grow, Zapmap’s focus is to make sure that EV drivers have access to the best up-to-date information so they can find and pay for public charging with confidence.” Ultra-rapid charging leads the charge Among the fastest-growing segments of the EV charging network, high-powered ultra-rapid charge points (150kW+) have experienced …