Advertisement

The Morning After: You won't be able to block Elon Musk (or anyone else) on X

The service formerly known as Twitter is getting rid of the ability to block users.

Clodagh Kilcoyne / reuters

Elon Musk says the service formerly known as Twitter is getting rid of the option to block other users, except in DMs. There, you’ll still be able to block unsolicited messages from anyone sending malicious, offensive missives, which is for some, the majority of their DMs.

But Musk said it "makes no sense" to block other users instead of muting them. Outside DMs, the mute option will still be available. There is a wrinkle here, noted on Musk’s own tweets. If the company did nix the ability to block users, it would violate policies for both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. (A web app, however, would be unaffected.)

In the spring, X killed off the platform's free API, which broke many third-party apps. Just one year earlier, Twitter (as it was known at the time) started recommending third-party apps to help mitigate harassment on the platform. Many of these, like Block Party, stopped working after those API changes.

– Mat Smith

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!​​

The biggest stories you might have missed

Sega completes purchase of Rovio for $776 million

Hitting the Books: Why we haven't made the Citizen Kane of gaming

The best wireless headphones for 2023​​

Fans are adapting Twin Peaks into a PS1-style adventure game

And there's a demo.

TMA
Blue Rose Team

A small French developer called Blue Rose Team has been prepping Twin Peaks: Into the Night for a while now, and it just dropped a demo of the fan-made game. The graphics are retro and decidedly PS1 flavored, which makes sense given how the show premiered in 1990. The gameplay looks to be full of exploration, complete with conversations with the town’s many oddball residents, but there’s a survival horror element reminiscent of the original Resident Evil titles. The scariest, most sinister threat, though, may be copyright law. However, the creators have announced the game will be free when/if it launches.

Continue reading.

Lamborghini’s new all-electric concept car was inspired by spaceships

The Lanzador will influence models moving forward.

TMA
Lamborghini

After teasing the announcement a few days ago, Lamborghini revealed a new EV concept vehicle at Monterey Car Week. The all-electric Lamborghini Lanzador boasts all kinds of high-tech bells and whistles, with a design inspired by spaceships, but it won’t actually ever hit retail. Instead, as is often the case with high-end concept cars, it’ll inspire and inform future Lamborghini rides. The driver and passenger sit low to the ground, as if in a jet, with a center console between them. The company says the interior is “unexpectedly roomy,” despite a roof height of around 1.5 meters.

Continue reading.

Microsoft retracts AI-written article advising tourists to visit a food bank on an empty stomach

‘Headed to Ottawa? Here’s what you shouldn’t miss!’

Microsoft reportedly published — and retracted — an AI-generated article that recommended people visit a Canadian food bank as a tourist attraction. The article recommended catching a baseball game, honoring fallen soldiers at a war museum and… swinging by the Ottawa Food Bank.

It’s a bleak mistake. Paris Marx first called out the story on X (formerly Twitter). “People who come to us have jobs and families to support, as well as expenses to pay,” the AI-written section about the food bank section read. “Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach.” The article was pulled when Microsoft was asked for comment. The article’s author was merely Microsoft Travel, suggesting real people may not have been involved in its creation. We hope not.

Continue reading.