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Google responds to last month's WebView nightmare on Android
Google is working on improvements for its WebView apps and plans to release more updates for the software and Chrome in order to avoid a repeat of last month's Android crash.
Android apps like Gmail are crashing and 'WebView' is to blame
If Gmail and other Android apps on your phone are crashing -- you're not alone.
Twitter 'rate limit' messages are due to an error, not your bad tweets
Twitter 'rate limit' error messages are popping up everywhere.
Disney+ isn't working for some users on launch day
Like most new online services, it looks like Disney+'s launch isn't going to be hiccup-free. After the streaming service went live early this morning, some fans on the east coast are waking up to find that they can't connect to Disney's servers to watch any content. On Twitter, there are a growing number of reports of people running into an "unable to connect to Disney+" error message.
Facial recognition tech misidentified 26 California lawmakers as criminals
The ACLU, which wants to ban facial recognition technology in police body cameras, says that its own tests of the technology mistakenly flagged 26 California lawmakers as criminals. More than half of those falsely identified were people of color. The experiment follows a similar test conducted last year, where 28 members of Congress -- the majority also people of color -- were mistakenly identified as criminals.
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp hit by second outage within a month
Just as the US was waking up to a lovely Sunday, Facebook was sadly tackling yet another massive outage -- its second one within a month. According to downdetector.com, soon after 6AM ET today, users across the world started experiencing issues with Facebook and its various platforms, including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. At the time of writing -- well over two hours later -- the services were still down, leaving users unable to load fresh content or message each other, nor could we check the service status on Facebook's developer site. Unlike last time, the company had yet to comment on the situation via Twitter.
Amazon blames technical error for exposing customer information
Amazon informed some of its users this morning that the company's website may have exposed their names and email address in a way that made the information publicly accessible. Amazon chalked the issue up to a technical error and said the problem has since been fixed. It's not clear how many people are effected by the leak.
MIT uses brain signals and hand gestures to control robots
Robotic technology has a staggering range of applications, but getting it to perform adequately can be a challenge, requiring specific programming based around the way humans communicate with language. But now, researchers from MIT have developed a way to control robots more intuitively, using hand gestures and brainwaves.
Oculus Rift headsets are offline following a software error
This morning, people around the world couldn't use their Oculus Rift VR headsets. System software couldn't "reach Oculus Runtime Service" according to error messages posted to the Oculus forums, spotted by Polygon. One possible explanation is that an Oculus security certificate expired today. The company took to the bulletin board to offer a bit of an update.
A Facebook bug killed off people before they were dead
Well, this is awkward. Facebook incorrectly flagged some people's profile pages with a message saying that the person was deceased. And it looks like the glitch was pretty widespread: even founder Mark Zuckerberg had apparently ceased to be. A banner at the top of his profile page read, "We hope people who love Mark will find comfort in the thing others share to remember and celebrate his life." A number of Engadget staffers had passed on as well; we weren't just pining.
SwiftKey leaked user email addresses as text predictions
Autocorrect mistakes are supposed to be funny, but a new SwiftKey glitch turned out to be sort of alarming. For the last week, some SwiftKey users have been offered predictive text for slang they've never used before, words in other foreign languages and, most concerning, email addresses and phone numbers they've never seen.
Apple says the iPhone-breaking Error 53 is a security measure
If you're an iPhone owner who hasn't had a run-in with the dreaded Error 53, consider yourself lucky. The error — which usually forces iPhones with replacement screens or home buttons into a boot loop after attempting a software update — was widely considered a bug until Apple cleared things up in with The Guardian earlier today.
Software error overinflates thousands of UK divorce settlements
An error in an electronic form used to help calculate the financial aspects of a divorce could potentially open old wounds for thousands of UK couples, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed. The Guardian reports that the software, known as a "Form E" on the HM Courts and Tribunals website, would wrongly state that wife or husband was worth more than they really were. If a minus figure was entered against the financial liabilities of each partner, the form failed to recognise them, boosting the overall value of their assets significantly.
IT glitch sees 600,000 RBS payments go missing (updated)
RBS has just stepped into another IT nightmare. The company, which owns the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Coutts and Ulster Bank, has admitted that 600,000 customer transactions weren't completed last night. It hasn't revealed the exact nature of the problem, referring to it only as "an issue with our overnight process." The electronic mishap means a large number of customers haven't had direct debits and credit applied to their accounts -- the sort of transactions that people normally use to make important payments, like household bills. The banking group says sorting its customer's balances is now a top priority and that delayed payments will be processed "no later than Saturday." That's quite a wait, although the larger question is how such a technology-centric failure was allowed to occur in the first place. Shouldn't there be fail-safes for these sorts of situations?
Technical error prevents US from issuing passports and visas overseas
A technical issue has halted the State Department's issuing of passports and visas from its overseas offices. According to the department's guidance, anyone that applied for a passport from outside the US after May 26th is affected by the problem, the root of which is unclear. Simultaneously, but apparently separate to the passport issue, visa applications made on or after June 9th are not able to be processed. At least this time, the department has pinpointed the problem: a hardware failure is preventing biometric clearance requests from making their way to database for processing. In a statement given to The Hill, a spokeswoman said there was "no evidence the problem is cyber security related."
PSA: Nintendo investigating Wii U error code issues
After reports rolled in yesterday about Super Smash Bros. and other Wii U games being met with error codes that resulted in a loss of system functionality, Nintendo acknowledged that it is investigating the problems. Error codes 160-0103 and 160-1710 "could affect the ability of the system to function properly" for a "small percentage of consumers playing Wii U," Nintendo of America told Joystiq. The reported issues varied from a loss of data to games on the system being unplayable entirely, issues that persisted within the data management menu on the Wii U for some. The error messages note that "there is a problem with the system memory." Nintendo encourages anyone experiencing the errors codes to call the Nintendo contact center at 1-800-255-3700 for help, until a solution is available. [Image: Nintendo]
Report: Super Smash Bros. Wii U error code bricking systems
A memory-corrupting error reportedly stemming from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is rendering some Wii U consoles unusuable, multiple sources claim. Users experiencing Error Code 160-0103 report a number of related issues, ranging from data deletion to unplayable games. In some cases, a related error message (160-1710) persists even in the Wii U's Data Management menu, requiring the console to be shipped to Nintendo for repair. "There is a problem with the system memory," the error message reads. "For help, make a note of the error code and visit support.nintendo.com." A specific cause has not been determined, but many users report experiencing the issue after turning the system off and back on again after a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U session. Issues related to Error Code 160-0103 were infrequently reported prior to the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and a reliable solution is not yet known. Joystiq has reached out to Nintendo regarding the error message, but has not received a response. [Update: A Reddit post clarifies that the problem is not exclusively caused by Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, citing previous user experiences with Hyrule Warriors, Mario Kart 8, and other Wii U games. Faulty flash memory chips are suspected to be at fault, though a consistent, proven cause remains unknown.] [Image: Trippy12345ify]
PSA: Destiny sign-in issues on PS4 [Update]
Those hoping to play Destiny on PS4 this morning may encounter a few issues getting into the game, and Bungie is on the case. The developer's support team tweeted today that it is "actively investigating issues impacting players' ability to sign in to Destiny on PlayStation 4." While not determined to be related at this point, the log-in issues hit the game on the same day as the PS4's next major system update, Version 2.0. The update adds the online multiplayer Share Play feature to the console as well as the ability to play music files from a USB stick. Destiny was also recently patched on all consoles to remove an exploit in its Vault of Glass mission. We will update as we learn that the fix for Destiny's sign-in issues on PS4 is in. Update: Bungie says the "issues preventing PlayStation 4 players from signing into Destiny are resolving." [Image: Activision]
Steve Ballmer wrote Windows' first Ctrl-Alt-Delete message (updated)
Whether Microsoft likes it or not, Windows' blue screen messages are iconic -- they're universal signs that something really bad has happened to your software. But who wrote the original Ctrl-Alt-Delete message that would grace the screens of sick PCs worldwide? None other than Steve Ballmer, according to company veteran Raymond Chen. The executive (then in charge of the Systems Division) reportedly didn't like the text that engineers first wrote, and took up a challenge to write better material himself. As it turns out, Ballmer did a good enough job that his version made it into the shipping product "pretty much word for word." The message has long since changed and isn't nearly as much of an issue on modern computers, but it's fun to think that the owner of the LA Clippers is also responsible for an app crash alert seen by millions of people. Update: Chen has since updated his story to emphasize that this is the Ctrl-Alt-Delete screen, not the infamous BSOD; the two just look pretty similar. We've tweaked our story accordingly.
Media Molecule embraces the glitch in new PS4 video
A warning straight away: There are a lot of flashing lights and colors in the above video, so if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, be careful. That should give you an idea of just how mad this latest Media Molecule madness is. What you're watching is taken from Media Molecule's unannounced PS4 project, but it's all the result of a rendering error. After discovering the glitch, the LittleBigPlanet dev decided it was freaky enough to publish, so it layered some techno music over the top and sent the video forth onto the Internet. As first looks at a game go, it's... different.
