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YouTube might be testing hiding the dislike button

21 October 2026 at 02:00
An image showing the YouTube logo

YouTube appears to be testing hiding the dislike button on videos, as reported by 9to5Google. At least two users on X have recently shared screenshots of the dislike button now being placed in the three-dots submenu, and a user on Reddit also shared an image of the dislike button being absent for them.

Right now, for me, the dislike button sits right next to the like button under a video. Moving it to a submenu would make it considerably more of an effort to access, meaning that fewer people would likely use it.

YouTube keeps on getting worse…
First the dislike counter got removed,
then the button got removed on YouTube Shorts,
now the disli …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Judge dismisses Sam Altman’s sister’s sexual abuse lawsuit

21 October 2026 at 01:04
An image of Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO.

On Tuesday, US District Judge Zachary Bluestone dismissed the lawsuit Ann Altman filed last year alleging that her brother, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, had sexually abused her throughout her childhood. As reported earlier by The Guardian, the judge wrote that over the past year, Ann had failed to appear for an independent medical examination or meet other deadlines despite warnings that it would result in the case being dismissed.

When the case was filed last year, a statement shared by Sam Altman, his mother, and his brothers said, "Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, and especially Sam… All of these claim …

Read the full story at The Verge.

A Gas Station Price War in Georgia Sent Prices Plummeting to Just 97 Cents a Gallon

21 October 2026 at 02:22

Due to a series of unforced errors on the part of certain leaders in the federal government, gas prices have gone absolutely bonkers. Where about a year and a half ago I was paying around $2.90 a gallon in my neck of the woods, last night I paid $4.50 a gallon to fill up. It’s madness. If you see anything sub four dollars, it feels like you’re having a hallucination. Now imagine what it must have been like for folks at one Georgia intersection who saw gas at 97 cents a gallon.

According to reports from WJCL-22, a grudge match erupted on Marietta Street in Powder Springs between rival Amoco and Sunoco gas stations. Amoco management followed a strict policy of keeping its fuel five cents cheaper than the competition. Sunoco matched every price cut.

Drivers Went Wild After a Gas Station Price War Sent Prices Below $1

What followed was a petty race to the bottom that represents the true promise of American capitalism, the one that never quite came to fruition. People formed huge lines at both stations as prices went from $2.54 to $1.44 to $1.39 to eventually below a dollar, bottoming out at $0.97 per gallon. For context, Georgia state average gas price is somewhere at $3.77, while the national average, according to AAA at the time of writing, is $4.27 a gallon.

Word quickly spread, and people from all around made the trek to the rival stations. One truck driver interviewed said he normally drops $90 to fill his tank, but drove off having spent only $15.

The frenzy was so wild, both stations were so crammed with cars, that local cops had to step in and block access to the pumps to let the congestion clear. Once things died down a bit, motorists who lingered around the area came rushing back to grab gas at $1.14 a gallon. Both stations eventually ended their weird price-dropping standoff and eventually reverted to normal prices the next day.

The post A Gas Station Price War in Georgia Sent Prices Plummeting to Just 97 Cents a Gallon appeared first on VICE.

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Two rival stations kept undercutting each other until gas dropped below a dollar, drawing huge crowds and forcing police to intervene.

This Hotel Hosted a Five-Day Retreat Dedicated Entirely to Farting

21 October 2026 at 02:17

We all need a place to ourselves where we can just let it all out. Usually, that means venting deep-seated emotional baggage, but let’s be honest: some of us just need a designated safe zone to unleash our horrid, rancid farts.

A woman who owns a hotel in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, England, is providing just such a sanctuary, where those of us who are prone to wild fits of gastrointestinal distress can freely express ourselves. According to the Isle of Wight County Press, the Fig Tree Hotel hosted a sanctuary called β€œThe Art of Letting Go,” tailored specifically for those cursed with the winds. From October 1 to the 5th, the retreat invited guests to stop forcing silence upon their gastrointestinal systems and to instead release the screams within.

The event was co-facilitated by yoga therapist and energy psychologist Marion Bevington, an IBS sufferer who literally wrote the book on flatulence, a book called Afraid to Fart – And the art of following through, featuring what appears to be an AI cover of a sheep and wool clothing among angry wolves who, given the book’s subject matter, are likely more angry at the sheep for farting than they are for its devious infiltration of the pack.

People Actually Paid to Attend a Wellness Retreat Where Farting Was Encouraged

When attracting such flatulent customers, one would wonder if exhibiting that flatulence would get one booted off the premises. Bevington assured attendees that nobody would be kicked out, blacklisted, or face any consequences for stinking up the joint.

Ultimately, the core philosophy is to get over the shame of flatulence and know how to gracefully excuse yourself from a social situation when you’re about to drop a big one. A valuable lesson we should all be so privileged to learn.

Yes, the event is long over by now, but maybe the viral spread of this story will encourage Bevington and the gang to make the Fart Retreat a regular thing and possibly become the fart hotspot of the world.

The post This Hotel Hosted a Five-Day Retreat Dedicated Entirely to Farting appeared first on VICE.

Trump is giving Nick Shirley $10,000 and launching a $25 million fraud bounty program

21 October 2026 at 00:20
Influencer Nick Shirley listens as US President Donald Trump makes an announcement on fraud in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the Trump administration was giving right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley $10,000 and launching a $25 million bounty program for members of the public to report fraud.

In December 2025, Shirley published a viral video alleging fraud at daycares in Minnesota that were operated by members of the local Somali community. Shirley lingered in parking lots and asked to enter childcare centers, taking refusals as evidence that the centers weren't actually caring for children. The video quickly went viral, triggering a massive governmental response: Federal immigration agents descended on the …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Google’s more personalized Gemini AI is heading to your car

21 October 2026 at 00:11
An image showing Gemini’s Personal Intelligence feature on a car’s display

Google is bringing Personal Intelligence to Gemini AI in your car. With this update, Gemini in Android Auto and cars with Google built-in can tap into your information across Google apps, including Gmail, Calendar, Maps, Photos, YouTube, and Search.

As an example, Google says you can ask Gemini about your flight status if you're driving to the airport. The AI assistant can pull your flight details from a confirmation message in Gmail and then use that information to look up the status. You can also ask Gemini to "take me to my doctor's appointment" instead of pulling up directions manually, or ask it to "find the car wash from the photo I t …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Tesla and SpaceX are discussing a possible merger, Musk says

20 October 2026 at 23:30
Elon Musk with zeros and money falling from the sky.

Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to discuss a possible merger, Elon Musk said during the latter's third quarter earnings call Tuesday.

Musk, who serves as CEO of both companies, said the special committees were formed at the request of shareholders and consist of independent directors (though he did not name them). He also noted that he is not a member of either committee, nor involved in any of the discussions.

"Because I'm a conflicted party, I can't actually be in the discussions of the special committees," Musk said. "So it's an odd kabuki dance where two groups of people are talking and I can't be in the conversation. …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SpaceX will try catching Starship and its booster for first time, Musk says

20 October 2026 at 23:02
SpaceX Starship

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the company would attempt to catch Starship and its booster next month, with the goal of recovering the entire orbital launch system for the first time. If successful, Musk said, the attempt would mark the first time in history an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered.

"This is a profound technology milestone in the history of civilization consciousness," he said during the company's third quarter earnings report Tuesday.

But he also allowed for the possibility of a failure. "Success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I'd say it's more likely than not that this succeeds next flight," Musk sa …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Netflix is telling investors not to worry, even though you’re watching less and less

20 October 2026 at 22:52
An illustration of the Netflix logo.

Netflix is making monetization a top priority amid reports of falling viewing time. As part of its third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, Netflix lists improvements to monetization as one of its main focuses going forward, alongside efforts to boost entertainment value and leverage new technology.

The streaming giant doesn't say exactly how it plans to improve its monetization, but the company notes that these goals will help Netflix "create member value that lets us occasionally raise prices, and increase advertiser demand." Netflix also highlighted plans to push further into original titles, live events, and third-party programming as …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Snap is paying Robert Downey Jr. to do the Iron Man thing

20 October 2026 at 22:32
Robert Downey Jr. wearing Specs glasses

Snap has a new brand ambassador for its Specs AR glasses: Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. The company has brought on Downey as Specs' "Chief Customer Experience Officer" and has published several videos featuring Downey showcasing the capabilities of the new glasses, including as a tool to get help with a putt, practice art, and watch a private video of an MMA match in bed. In one video, he also dumps the contents of a box labeled "AI glasses" into a trash bin - a shot at Meta's popular smart glasses.

As part of the partnership, Downey will "work alongside the SPECS team to explore how augmented reality can improve the way people live and …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SpaceX says big AI growth fueled revenue jump

20 October 2026 at 22:26
Elon Musk with big green arrows pointing up.

SpaceX announced revenues of $14.6 billion in its Q3 earnings on Tuesday, which it says was a growth of 161 percent year-over-year "fueled by our Super Intelligence (SI) segment and accelerated growth in Connectivity." While its Space division posted a $7 million loss in income from operations, its Connectivity group posted income from operations $2.4 billion and its SI group posted $431 million.

The company's so-called "SI" business saw revenues of $7.6 billion, which were up 830 percent year-over-year, "primarily driven" by "the activation of new cloud services agreements, the acquisition of Cursor, and increased Grok adoption across ente …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Oura adds two new cardiovascular health tracking features to its smart rings

20 October 2026 at 22:26
A person stretches their leg by holding their foot while wearing an Oura smart ring.

Oura is introducing two new cardiovascular-focused health tracking features to its smart rings designed to help users better understand the effect regular workouts and exercise are having on their long-term health, and whether they need to ramp it up or dial things down. Cardio Effort and automatic VO2 Max (previously known as Cardio Capacity) are available for the Oura Ring Gen 3 and later models, but only to users with an active Oura membership.

Instead of measuring how fast or far a user went during a run or bike ride, or metrics like calories burned, Cardio Effort measures how hard their cardiovascular system was working during exercise …

Read the full story at The Verge.

TikTok has started censoring searches for popular peptides

20 October 2026 at 22:16
Peptide vial with molecule chains floating around.

Trying to pull up information for certain peptides on TikTok is now returning a "no results found" page when searching for terms like semaglutide, BPC-157, retratutide, and others. That hasn't entirely erased visibility on TikTok for peptides, which are combinations of amino acids that include substances like insulin and GLP-1. The problem is peptides also include unregulated, unapproved substances that proponents like RFK Jr. say can assist with everything from weight loss to wound healing, despite a lack of clinical data supporting such claims.

As a result, on social media platforms like TikTok, an army of influencer proponents are happy …

Read the full story at The Verge.

JustWatch now streams TV shows and movies, too

20 October 2026 at 20:56
Several different mobile devices and a TV showing the JustWatch TV interface on screen.

After announcing plans to introduce its own streaming service last month, JustWatch, a popular guide and search engine for finding things to watch on existing platforms like Disney Plus and Netflix, launched JustWatch TV today. The new streaming service offers an ad-supported free subscription, an ad-free paid subscription, and movie rentals with content from 30 global partners.

The streaming service is accessible through JustWatch's existing mobile apps and its website and is currently available in 12 markets including the US, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, and the UK. Content providers include Bleecker Street, Cineverse, Fremantle, New …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft reportedly plans Xbox handheld in 2027, next-gen console in 2028

20 October 2026 at 20:45
Vector illustration of the Xbox logo.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an Xbox "next-generation handheld device" for the holiday season of 2027. The Xbox next-gen console, codename Project Helix, would then launch in the holidays of 2028, according to a new report from Fortune.

The report doesn't make it clear whether the handheld would be made by a manufacturer like Asus, or by Microsoft itself. Xbox teamed up with Asus for its Xbox Ally devices, which ran a modified version of Windows 11 with an Xbox mode enabled. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has also described Project Helix as a "family of devices," suggesting that Microsoft's next Xbox console may not be just one piece of …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta pauses Muse sharing after researchers find AI chats on the web

20 October 2026 at 20:07
The Muse AI mascot and logo.

Meta says it paused a Muse feature that lets you share conversations with the AI assistant after researchers found the URLs publicly available on the web, as reported by Ars Technica. In a report published this week, researchers at the security firm Claroc say they found more than 6,800 Muse links through public DNS records.

"People have the ability to share specific Muse artifacts, which creates a page that can be accessed by those with the link," Muse spokesperson Tracy Clayton says in an emailed statement to The Verge. "However, we've paused this functionality while we review this report and consider changes to how these links can be dis …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The $20,000 Voxel bot will help you find misplaced things around your home

20 October 2026 at 19:49

Tuesday Labs, a New York City-based robotics lab and design studio, has opened reservations for Voxel, its new bi-pedal robot designed to learn and take over routine tasks throughout your home. Similar to other robots like Weave Robotics' Issac 1 that are designed for household chores beyond mopping or vacuuming floors, Voxel features a pair of highly-articulated arms and an advanced vision system. If you're interested in bringing home what Tuesday Labs describes as a "droid butler" you can reserve one now for $200 while full pricing is expected to be around $20,000 when Voxel ships sometime in 2028.

The model available for preorder is know …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Chrome will now show a warning before you visit β€˜suspicious’ sites

20 October 2026 at 19:00
Google Chrome’s new warning message for suspicious websites.
If you know for sure that a website flagged as suspicious is actually safe, you can mark it as such. | Image: Google

Google is launching a new browser safety feature for Chrome that aims to keep you better informed about how malicious a website might be before you open it. The new suspicious site warnings, available when Chrome's Enhanced Protection is on, build on a similar two-stage system introduced for Chrome file downloads in 2024, which provides visually different notifications for blocked files based on whether they're determined to be "suspicious" or "dangerous."

For the Chrome site warnings, the feature will flag a website as suspicious if it detects that it has similar qualities to other sites associated with phishing, malware, and scams. Google …

Read the full story at The Verge.

AMD is bringing FSR 4.1 to Xbox consoles and handhelds

20 October 2026 at 18:21

AMD has just revealed that it's bringing its latest upscaling technology, FSR 4.1, to the Xbox Series S and X consoles, as well as laptops, 6000-series GPUs, and handhelds like the Xbox Ally X devices. FSR 4.1 will start appearing for Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs today, as well as Ryzen AI Max 300 and 400 series devices, and Ryzen AI 9 300 and 400 series devices.

AMD launched its FSR 4.1 update for Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards in March, and promised to bring the technology to older GPUs and handhelds this year. FSR 4.1 can improve performance in more than 300 supported games, including Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 6, and Assassin's Cre …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Arturia’s MiniFreak 49 makes its Freak synths more professional

20 October 2026 at 18:00
A woman kneeling on a green rug playing the Arturia MiniFreak 49 and using its XYZ touchpad.

Arturia is adding to its Freak line of proudly weird digital synths with the MiniFreak 49. Under the hood, it's almost identical to the current MiniFreak, but it adds a number of more professional features and some interface improvements.

The most noticeable change is that, rather than the MiniFreak's 37 minikeys or the MicroFreak's 25 "key" touchplate, the MiniFreak 49 has (as you may have guessed) 49 full-sized, semi-weighted keys. Though it's somewhat disappointing that they feature only mono aftertouch instead of polyphonic aftertouch. It also trades the touchstrips of the other Freak instruments for proper aluminum pitch and mod wheel …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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