You can relinquish fact-checking responsibilities but can you ever be neutralagain?Photo sourceIn recent years weve developed increasingly complex systems to manage content across our platforms, partly in response to societal and political pressure to moderate content. This approach has gone too far. As well-intentioned as many of these efforts have been, they have expanded over time to the point where we are making too many mistakes We want to undo the mission creep that has made our rules too restrictive and too prone to over-enforcement.- Excerpt from Metas press release on January 7, 2025 (emphasis mine)Is it possible for a post to be so wrong but also kind of right at the same time? Of course it is. Nuance is a dying art. But thats the challenge with deciding whats right and wrong: things can be completely true, partially true, or not true atall.Unfortunately, when youve claimed the word meta from our lexicon and then you announce that youve done a bad job deciding whats right, so youve decided to stop deciding whats right, but you get that decision wrong, were out of words to describe theirony.Thats effectively what Meta has done in their announcement this week to stop using independent fact-checkers on their platforms and instead shift to a crowdsourced community notes model, similar to Twitter Xs approach. The public response has been palpable. In the same week that the incoming president-elect repeatedly trolls about wanting to annex Canada, a culture war is brewing over raw milk consumption, and conspiracy theories about California wildfires are spreading as fast as the fires themselves, this seems like the absolute wrong time to step away from fact-checking.At the same time, I can empathize with Metas statement. I design technology for a living. I have to make tough ethical decisions. I encounter scope creep and mission creep all the time. I, too, have approached a problem with good intentions only to find an adverse unintended consequence. In their own words, we didnt want to be the arbiters of truth and I wouldnt want to entrust them with that responsibility either.Many product decisions are unidirectional. Ive had to shelve some of my riskier design ideas because consumer trust is a delicate matteronce you release a feature to the public you cant always pull it back. But then again, Im not usually the type to move fast and breakthings.Not every ethical dilemma carries the same weight, and this one is heavy. I cant blame Meta for initially wanting to stay neutral, but when they decided in 2016 to use third-party fact checking to moderate content across their platforms, they altered the social fabric of the internet in a way they can never fully takeback.Once youve had a finger on the scale of truth, any omission of fact-checking becomes a permission to lie. The misinformation is already out there and you cant put that toothpaste back in thetube.You used to be able to lie on theinternetDoes it make me sound old to say the internet used to be a different place? In the halcyon days of the early 2000s, the internet still felt largely like the Wild West. People werent constantly online, identities were still mostly anonymous, and communities were spread thinner across esoteric websites and interests. You almost expected anything you read online to be a lie, and sometimes that was half of thefun.Im pretty sure I posted this on MySpace and thought it was hilariousSo what changed? For one thing, as we began to spend more time online, we moved more of our IRL social lives to the internet, which made it beneficial for everybody to be in the same few places. Aggregators began to distill the best content from corners of the internet into just a few destinations. Memes transformed from inside joke shibboleths to a shared cultural identity. And going viral went from an innocent, seemingly random phenomenon to a carefully calculated, focus-grouped, business proposition.In other words, we became a captive audience and people learned that they could profit off our attention.The internet became too legit toquitBy the early 2010s, things on the internet began to matter. By then, seemingly everyone had a digital presence; if you werent there you were probably missingout.People started to take notice when online movements proved they could mobilize people and ideas in powerful ways. 2011s Arab Spring revolutions proved that Twitter X was more than just a place to talk about your lunch. Similar movements around the world followed. Even fringe phenomena like Twitch Plays Pokemon demonstrated that the internet hivemind was more than just a theory or a joke. But any scenario where that could be used for good meant that it could also be used forbad.The timeline followed pretty swiftly from Facebooks 2012 social experiment about manipulating emotions to Cambridge Analyticas social media influence in the 2016 election. In the same blink of an eye, fake news entered our everyday vocabulary and desensitized us while sites like InfoWars lost all touch withreality.Lying on the internet was no longer fun. By the late 2010s you were more likely to be pulling your friend out of a pyramid scheme or worrying that your parents would fall for a cryptoscam.We wanted the truth. We couldnt handle thetruth.Can any one entity really be an unbiased judge of the truth? In hindsight, you might wonder why anyone would willingly step into the morass of content moderation, but in the context of the 2010s you can understand why Metaand its peershad to step in. Since 2016, Meta has had mechanisms in place to proactively flag content thats known to be false or bury content that aligns with hoaxes. Facebook automatically flags and removes posts and comments that share similarities with hate speech. While the policies were in place, Meta claimed that they were working as intended, but this weeks announcement contradicts that. (See how the truth canchange?)Then again, its now 2025, content moderation policies have been in place for nine years, and anecdotally Im not sure that I feel any more insulated from fake news than I did before. But I can assume that Im already in a media-literate bubble and not likely to encounter as much fake news in the first place. Those outside my bubble might see more flagged content, but that only fuels the fire among those who believe that content moderation is biased against their point of view. Conspiracy theories are only strengthened by the idea that they dont want you to see them. At the end of the day, how effective is fact-checking among the willfully ignorant?Omission becomes permissionWhether the previous fact-checking mechanisms were effective or not, you cant simply remove the mechanisms without creating a vacuum. It would be different if there had never been a moderation playbook in the first place, but thats not the case. Since, by declaration, these new rules are relaxed, then that becomes a vulnerability to anyone who would want to exploit it. A community notes approach can only do so much when fake news proponents can now kick down all the doors that used to hold them atbay.Worse yet, by relaxing these rules, Meta has redefined its Community Standards and, in the process, explicitly defined new forms of hate speech that are acceptable. Again, it would be one thing if these examples of hate speech were never defined in the first place, but by walking back from one moral stance to another, it provides a list of socially permissible ways to bully or harass a formerly protected class of people. Among that list, ethnic groups can now be called filth, women can be referred to as household objects, and LGBT individuals can be called mentally ill (and are notably the only exception among disallowed mental condition insults).If youve ever met a bully or troll, you already know that when a boundary is (re)drawn, they will crowd that line as much as they can get awaywith.What now?The sociologist in me reminds me to have faith in both humans and academia.If I can set aside my cynicism, I can remember that most people are not bad-faith actors. Most people are not willfully ignorant. Most people do want the real news. Those are the people who usually sort things out for themselves pretty well. In the absence of independent fact-checkers it becomes even more imperative that we do our own research and call out the bullshit when we see it. I dont agree that community notes are the best approach, but they work better if good people contribute to them. And if youve read this far into this essay then youre probably one ofthem.And now, more than ever, I appreciate the important research of Professor Kate Starbird at the UW Center for an Informed Public, which has been studying, tracking, and understanding the spread of false information long before it was cool. Theres always a strong source of truth in peer-reviewed research, even if you have to seek it out for yourself.The Meta decision: you cant put the toothpaste back in the tube was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Small-scale, hyper-efficient living has always appealed to me, so I was overjoyed to step into numerous examples of sustainable tiny homes this week at CES 2025. There were EV RVs, trailers geared for camping and deliverable, turn-key, self-sustaining living pods. I want one of each to create a little eco village somewhere, preferably within walking distance to a bakery, coffee shop and Thai food. While none of these are cheap, some actually fall under what I would expect, compared to the market at large. And the suite of features employed represent some of the best sustainability capabilities available at the moment solar power, gray water recycling, atmospheric water generation and boss-level insulation. Plus they're all very pretty. The camping/recreational bent of these models is great but the fact that most wouldn't require a permit could help address a small corner of the housing crisis, especially as more cities loosen restrictions on additional dwelling units (ADUs). One of these could easily set up in a backyard or driveway as a studio apartment for a college student, aging parent and happily single folk. I've got some planning to do. After CES. And a long nap. Haus.me microhaus Pro Amy Skorheim / Engadget I'll get this out of the way: the Haus.me Microhaus Pro was my favorite of the bunch. It's a deliverable, ready-to-use, 120 square-foot pod that's capable of setting up on any flat surface grass, concrete, sand, dirt, atop cinderblocks, you name it. If it's flat, it fits. It can suck water out of the air (and I was assured that includes low-humidity locales). It plugs into a standard extension cord, so the power can come from the grid, a solar setup or something else entirely and the integrated battery will run everything for four days without being hooked up to power. Inside, it's posh and lovely with every space maximized. A queen-sized Murphy bed flips up to reveal a table and two bench seats. It has a small fridge, microwave and sink in the kitchen, a full-sized shower in the bathroom, and a TV in the living space. The Pro model is fully appointed, complete with Siri Homepod voice control, fancy dishware, linens and includes the aforementioned battery. That model is geared towards Airbnbs and rentals and goes for just under $90,000. The Lite knocks thirty grand off the price as it foregoes the battery, dishes and a few other features and is intended for personal use. All models of the microhaus are available to order now. AC Future Ai-THd The most tony unit I saw was from AC Future. The AC Future Ai-THd is a full-sized EV RV on display at the Las Vegas convention center. This is one of three models the company will make. There's also the Ai-THt, a trailer version and the Ai-THu which, like the microhaus, is a deliverable unit. That last one is the cheapest of the three models and the one that intrigued me the most. All three are based on the same transformable design (TH stands for transformable home) that expands three ways from 120 square feet to a 400 square-foot one bedroom apartment. Each model will be customized to order and the available tech is impressive. Solar panels will generate 25 kWh of power daily and it also comes with atmospheric water generation to the tune of up to 15 gallons per day. There's a full-sized fridge, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, stand-up shower and, because 2025, a whole-home AI assistant called Futura to manage things on your behalf. Pre-orders opened up at CES and AC Future plans to start production as soon as the madness of CES is behind them. RollAway I only got to peek inside the RollAway, but my colleague Jessica Conditt got to fully tour the rentable EV RV. It combines high-end hotel luxuries, from plush linens to Malin+Goetz toiletries. There's a convertible queen-sized bed, dual-burner stovetop, shower, panoramic roof and an included projector. The RV itself has a range of more than 270 miles and a fast-charging option. Sustainability tech includes rooftop solar panels, a waterless toilet, and low-waste water systems. That should allow for some off-grid trips but the RollAway is also compatible with standard RV site hookups. To complete the hotel-like vibes, a 24/7 concierge is on hand to help plan your trip, give you directions, make side quest suggestions and keep your space equipped on the road. RollAway just started booking trips and is nearly fully reserved for 2025. Reservations go for around $400 a night and for now is just available around San Francisco Bay, but more cities are coming soon. Pebble Flow My colleague Sam Rutherford saw the prototype Pebble Flow EV trailer at last year's CES (and his pictures are always much better than mine). I checked out the production model the company brought to the show this year. The differences are slight but meaningful. Basically, Pebble asked prospective customers to tour the prototype and tell them what they should change. One directive was "more windows" so a skylight was added, along with a larger window at the back. The cupboards are now easier to access. And the overall shape is now more aerodynamic, which should make pulling the trailer easier even easier. Being easy to pull was already one of the Flow's selling points. The 24-foot trailer can be outfit (for a price upgrade) with a dual-motor drivetrain that helps propel itself to reduce drag on the towing vehicle. That upgrade also includes a remote control option that lets you park and hitch the trailer via the app. Again, there's a Murphy queen bed that becomes a workspace and the dinette table folds down to accomodate two more sleepers. There's a full kitchen, a shower/bath stall with glass doors that change from opaque to clear with a button push. There's a 45 kWh battery and 1.1 kW solar array. It starts at $109,500 and bumps up to $135,500 with the motor upgrade. The first deliveries should be available in spring of this year. Lightship AE.1 Cosmos Fun fact: Lightship is the only not-exclusively California company on this list. The California and Colorado-based company makes the AE.1 Cosmos, another solar-powered all-electric trailer that also with a motor-assist feature. In addition to the motor, the Cosmos also collapses down by four feet when it's in "road mode" to reduce drag. Inside there's a full kitchen with dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, convection oven and induction cooktop. Two sleeping areas accommodate up to four and both convert to living areas (a dinette and a daybed/couch). Everything is powered by a 1.8 kWh solar array and battery banks. Lightship had the Cosmos set up in the lot just outside the convention center. The space was decked out with a pebble gravel floor complete with scrubby desert plants and a starry night backdrop that blocked out the convention center itself. If I squinted, I could pretend I was out in the desert somewhere, with everything I needed just over there. It was a bit of a downer to leave it and return to the chaos that is CES. But now the sad bit: Only 50 will be produced. Each one will be manufactured in the company's Broomfield, Colorado facility and will sell for $250,000 each, with units shipping this summer. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-sustainable-tiny-home-trend-at-ces-2025-revived-my-dream-of-building-a-compound-140057385.html?src=rss

CES 2025 is almost over, but if you're wondering if some of the products showcased there are available, you're in luck. Many of them are up for pre-order, if not already on store shelves. CES is known for setting the stage for the forthcoming year in tech, with lots of prototypes on display and always a few pieces of vaporware that never materialize. But this year, there are wireless headphones, smart glasses and even a baby bouncer and bassinet combo that you can pick up right now if you're keen on becoming an early adopter. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/18-ces-gadgets-you-can-actually-buy-right-now-170544225.html?src=rss

X is further aiming to clamp down on impersonation by rolling out a label for parody accounts to help make them distinct from the real deal. Users will now start seeing the label on posts as well as profile pages.The company says that the goal of the label is to improve transparency, but there's a fatal flaw in how X is going about that. As it stands, the label is not yet mandatory. And as TechCrunch notes, operators of parody accounts have to apply it manually (by going to the "your account" section" in settings, then to "account information" and enabling Parody, commentary and fan account option)."Were rolling out profile labels for parody accounts to clearly distinguish these types of accounts and their content on our platform. We designed these labels to increase transparency and to ensure that users are not deceived into thinking such accounts belong to the entity being parodied," X wrote in an announcement. "Parody labels will be applied to both posts and accounts on X to clearly demonstrate the source of the content youre seeing. Well share details soon on when the label will become mandatory for parody accounts."Were rolling out profile labels for parody accounts to clearly distinguish these types of accounts and their content on our platform. We designed these labels to increase transparency and to ensure that users are not deceived into thinking such accounts belong to the entity Safety (@Safety) January 10, 2025 The company added that parody accounts still have to adhere to the platform's rules, including those related to authenticity. "Parody, Fan, and Commentary (PCF) labels are selected by people on X to indicate that the account depicts another person, group, or organization in their profile to discuss, satirize, or share information about that entity," the label's description reads. "This label distinguishes these accounts to ensure they do not cause confusion for others or incorrectly imply any affiliation."Since X isn't applying the label to accounts itself (seemingly relying on the community to flag impersonators rather than take a more active approach to moderation) and the fact it isn't mandatory yet, it's unlikely to meaningfully target the problem of impersonation.Scammers who impersonate, say, X owner Elon Musk in an attempt to squeeze some bitcoin out of other users won't exactly be inclined to put the label on their accounts. And those who simply don't care about having their account banned by imitating a legitimate news outlet, brand or celebrity to spread misinformation are unlikely to either. It's almost as if the entire concept of authenticity on X has been a mess ever since the company allowed anyone to buy a blue checkmark for their profile.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-new-parody-labels-wont-fix-its-impersonation-problem-134514427.html?src=rss

Together with a new headquarters, Lenovo will manufacture millions of PCs and servers at a new facility.

Netflix has plans to provide more personalized trailers for its users.

OM System could finally deliver since acquiring Olympus, and 2025 is the perfect time for it.

Macys has revealed 64 stores that will be closing their doors soon in addition to two that have already shuttered. The store closures are part of what Macys calls its Bold New Chapter strategy, which is designed to return the company to profitability by closing underperforming stores and focusing its resources on more profitable locations.Fast Company previously reported that the department store chain was increasing its list of planned closures for its 2024 fiscal year.As part of the Bold New Chapter strategy, Macys has previously announced a total of 150 stores will be shuttered by the end of its fiscal 2026, which is January 31, 2027. After the closure of 150 stores, Macys says it will have 350 locations still in operation.What Macys stores are closing?The full list of all 150 locations that are closing by the end of January 2027 is unknown, but Macys has released a list of 66 of those stores that are to close, including two that already are. In this round of closures, several states are hit harder than others. California will see nine store closures during this round, Florida will see eight, New York will see nine, and Texas will see six. The full list of closing Macys locations spans 22 states.Here is the full list of all 66 store closures included in this round:ArizonaSuperstition Springs Center: 6535 E SOUTHERN AVE MESA AZCaliforniaBroadway Plaza: 750 W 7TH ST LOS ANGELES CAHillsdale FurnitureL 2838 SOUTH EL CAMINO REAL SAN MATEO CASunrise Mall: 6000 SUNRISE MALL CITRUS HEIGHTS CAWestminster Mall: 300 WESTMINSTER MALL WESTMINSTER CANewPark Mall: 200 NEWPARK MALL NEWARK CAMission Valley Home: 1555 CAMINO DE LA REINA SAN DIEGO CAOtay Ranch Town Center: 2015 BIRCH RD STE 2 CHULA VISTA CAVillage at Corte Madera: 1400 REDWOOD HWY CORTE MADERA CADowntown Plaza: 414 K ST SACRAMENTO CAColoradoNorthfield Stapleton: 8298 E NORTHFIELD BLVD DENVER COStreets at Southglenn Furniture: 6797 SOUTH VINE STREET CENTENNIAL CO (already closed)FloridaBoynton Beach Mall: 801 N CONGRESS AVE STE 100 BOYNTON BEACH FLFt Lauderdale Furniture: 4501 NORTH FEDERAL HIGHWAY FORT LAUDERDALE FLPembroke Furniture: 13640 PINES BLVD PEMBROKE PINES FLSouth Dade Furniture: 13251 SOUTH DIXIE HIGHWAY MIAMI FLWest Shore Plaza: 298 WESTSHORE PLZ TAMPA FLAltamonte Furniture: 820 W TOWN PKWY ALTAMONTE SPGS FLSouthgate: 3501 S TAMIAMI TRL STE 600 SARASOTA FLBoca Raton Furniture: 9339 GLADES ROAD BOCA RATON FL (already closed)GeorgiaGwinnett Furniture: 3360 VENTURE PARKWAY DULUTH GAGwinnett Place 2100 PLEASANT HILL RD STE 2318 DULUTH GAJohns Creek Town Center: 3630 PEACHTREE PARKWAY SUWANEE GAIdahoSilver Lake Mall: 200 W HANLEY AVE STE 200-4 COEUR D'ALENE IDIllinoisWhite Oaks Mall: 104 WHITE OAKS MALL SPRINGFIELD ILLouisianaAcadiana Mall: 5733 JOHNSTON ST STE 2098 LAFAYETTE LAMassachusetts Independence Mall: 101 KINGSTON COLLECTION WAY STE 1 KINGSTON MAMarylandSecurity Square: 6901 SECURITY BLVD STE 871 BALTIMORE MDHarford Malle: 600 BALTIMORE PIKE BEL AIR MDMichiganGrand Traverse Mall: 3400 S AIRPORT RD W TRAVERSE CITY MILakeside Mall: 14200 LAKESIDE CIR STERLING HGHTS MIOakland Mall: 500 W 14 MILE RD TROY MIGenesee Valley Center: 4600 MILLER RD FLINT MIMinnesotaMaplewood Mall 3001 WHITE BEAR AVE N STE 2035 MAPLEWOOD MNBurnsville Center 14251 BURNHAVEN DR BURNSVILLE MNMissouriMetro North Mall: 400 NW BARRY RD STE 150 KANSAS CITY MOSouth County Mall: 10 S COUNTY CENTER WAY SAINT LOUIS MONew JerseyEssex Green Shopping Center: 459 PROSPECT AVENUE WEST ORANGE NJNew YorkLake Success: 1550 UNION TURNPIKE NEW HYDE PARK NYMelville Mall: 834 WALT WHITMAN ROAD HUNTINGTON NYQueens Place: 88-01 QUEENS BLVD ELMHURST NYSheepshead Bay: 2027 EMMONS AVENUE BROOKLYN NYMall at Greece Ridge: 397 GREECE RIDGE CENTER ROCHESTER NYSunrise Mall: 400 SUNRISE MALL MASSAPEQUA NYBrooklyn: 422 FULTON ST BROOKLYN NYStaten Island Furniture: 98 RICHMOND HILL ROAD STATEN ISLAND NYFordham Place: 404 EAST FORDHAM RD BRONX NYOhioFairfield Commons 2727 FAIRFIELD COMMONS BLVD SPC 2 BEAVERCREEK OHFranklin Park 5001 MONROE ST STE D100 TOLEDO OHOregonStreets of Tanasbourne: 2055 NE ALLIE AVE HILLSBORO ORSalem Center :400 HIGH ST NE SALEM ORPennsylvaniaLogan Valley Mall: 5580 GOODS LN STE 2178 ALTOONA PAExton Square Mall: 245 EXTON SQUARE MALL EXTON PAPhiladelphia City Center: 1300 MARKET ST PHILADELPHIA PAWyoming Valley Mall: 59 WYOMING VALLEY MALL WILKES BARRE PATennesseeOak Court: 4545 POPLAR AVE MEMPHIS TNTexasAlmeda Mall: 100 ALMEDA MALL HOUSTON TXFairview: 675 STACY RD FAIRVIEW TXShops at Willow Bend: 6209 W PARK BLVD PLANO TXSouthlake Town Square: 321 STATE ST SOUTHLAKE TXWest Bend: 1751 RIVER RUN #101 FORT WORTH TXHighlands of Flower Mound: 6101 LONG PRAIRIE RD STE 500 FLOWER MOUND TXVirginiaSouthpark Mall: 170 SOUTHPARK CIR COLONIAL HGHTS VAWashingtonSouth Hill Mall: 3500 S MERIDIAN STE 985 PUYALLUP WARedmond Furniture: 15340 N.E. 24TH STREET REDMOND WAKitsap Mall: 10315 SILVERDALE WAY NW SILVERDALE WABoca Raton Furniture: 9339 GLADES ROAD BOCA RATON FLWhen do the above stores close?Two of the locations have already closed, one in Colorado and one in Florida. Macys says the other 64 locations will begin clearance sales by the end of this month. Those sales are expected to run for 8 to 12 weeks, at which point the stores will shutter for good.The timeline is a little different if the store is a Macy's Backstage or Macy's Furniture Galleries location. Those stores will begin their clearance sales in February and those will run for approximately six weeks after.Closing any store is never easy, but as part of our Bold New Chapter strategy, we are closing underproductive Macys stores to allow us to focus our resources and prioritize investments in our goforward stores, where customers are already responding positively to better product offerings and elevated service, Macys CEO Tony Spring said in a prepared statement about the closing locations.How is Macys stock price reacting?Publishing the list of closing stores seems to have done little to impact Macys stock pricemost likely because it was already known that Macys would be shuttering 150 locations over the coming years.Macys released the list yesterday, January 9, a day in which trading on the stock market was paused due to former president Jimmy Carters funeral services. In premarket trading this morning, shares of Macys (NYSE: M) are down less than half a percent to $15.96 per share.Year to date, which so far includes just five trading days, Macys stock is down 4.4%. Over the previous 12 months, Macys stock has fallen 14.82% in total.

Southern California Edison said on Thursday it had received notices from insurance companies to preserve evidence related to the Eaton Fire that is still burning in Los Angeles, but said no fire agencies have pointed to the utilitys connection to the fire.The group, a unit of U.S. utility Edison International, said its filing to regulators was triggered by online publications that seemingly suggest the groups equipment may have been associated with the fires ignition.To date, no fire agency has suggested that SCEs electric facilities were involved in the ignition or requested the removal and retention of any SCE equipment, it said.The utility added that it did not find any interruptions or anomalies in its transmission lines until more than an hour after the reported start time of the fire, citing preliminary analysis done by the group.Aside from the preservation notices suggesting SCEs potential involvement and significant media attention surrounding the fire, we do not believe this incident meets the reporting requirements, the utility added.Two massive wildfires, the Palisades Fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the citys western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena, have consumed more than 34,000 acres (13,750 hectares) and have lead to 10 deaths.The fires have collectively devoured over 10,000 homes and other structures and have been ranked as the most destructive in Los Angeles history.Private forecaster AccuWeather have estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners insurance costs.Bipasha Dey, Reuters