Coyote vs. Acme is even funnier because Warner Bros. Discovery tried to kill it
There's an argument to be made that people wouldn't be all that interested in Coyote vs. Acme if it weren't for the way David Zaslav tried to kill it. By trying to shelve the project, Warner Bros. Discovery only drew attention to its habit of disappearing nearly completed movies in order to cash in on tax write-offs.
Coyote vs. Acme's generally positive reviews are on the money; it really is one of the best Looney Tunes movies in years. In theory, this suggests that the movie might do well at the box office and become a case study in WBD making terrible decisions. Ironically, though, all of the drama surrounding the live-action / animated …
Comcast is turning millions of its routers into motion detectors
Comcast is bringing Wi-Fi motion sensing to millions of routers that are already in customers' homes, turning the devices into activity monitors. A new update to the Xfinity Internet app, arriving today, August 18th, enables the feature on compatible Xfinity routers at no extra cost.
Announced as part of its new Xfinity Shield service, WiFi Motion can monitor activity in your home and send you notifications, similar to a standalone motion sensor. It works by detecting disruptions in the Wi-Fi signal between the Xfinity gateway and any Wi-Fi-connected device, giving you some insight into what's happening in your home without buying addition …
ABC sues the FCC over Trump and Carr’s campaign of threats
ABC is suing the Federal Communications Commission over claims the agency "waged a retaliatory campaign" against its networks over the content they broadcast. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, ABC and its parent company Disney accuse the FCC of "punishing ABC for its speech" by threatening its broadcast licenses.
It's the latest escalation in the dispute between ABC and the Trump administration, which has been critical of the network's political coverage - especially by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and The View. The FCC opened an investigation into The View's airtime of political candidates in February and ordered ABC stations …
Polaroid’s new Pokémon collection captures memories, not Pikachus
Polaroid announced a new collection of cameras, instant film, and accessories all featuring limited-edition designs to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokémon. The new collection goes a little harder than Fujifilm's Pokémon collaboration from five years ago with the introduction of Polaroid film printed with various characters around the frames, including Pikachu and Snorlax. The entire collection will be available for preorder starting on August 25th in the US, Canada, and the UK through the Polaroid and Pokémon Center websites. A global release is expected to follow on October 5th.
The three cameras are existing models with new des …
Firefox’s Smart Window promises a better AI browser
Starting today, AI chats in Firefox's Smart Window AI browsing mode can pull from current web info and show source links in chat responses through a partnership with Exa. Smart Window can also now automatically suggest tab groups and show visual previews of pages you previously visited when you search your browsing history using natural language.
I saw a live demo that showed how the Smart Window AI could sort through selected links in your browsing history to pull up "running shoes I looked at last week," and pop up images pulled from the sites browsed previously. The suggested groups of tabs can also find and close duplicates, making it …
Google’s Pet Memory forgot who my cats are
One of the best things my smart home does is help me care for my pets, and security cameras are particularly useful for keeping track of my many critters. But the barrage of notifications they send often means I miss important ones. So, when Google announced its new Pet Memory feature for Gemini for Home, I thought this could be the perfect solution.
Pet Memory promises to teach your Google Home smart home who your pets are, allowing connected Nest cameras to go beyond simply telling you they saw an animal to which animal they saw. It can then use that knowledge to adapt your smart home to your pet.
My plan was to use it to keep a digital …
The Verge Guide to Pets
Ah, the relationship between animals and the technology they can’t quite understand.
Today, it seems like there’s a high-tech solution to every element of pet ownership, with devices on the market designed to keep pets fed, cleaned, watched over, and entertained. And if you have a pet you know: nothing is too good — or too cutting-edge — for your (furry, slimy, feathery) best friend.
But while some tech can help care for your pet, it can be complicated when dogs and cats meet wires and waves. You might feel complicated about offloading elements of kitten parenthood to a robot. Some pet tech innovations over-promise or are over-hyped. And of course, your puppy (or parrot) might well mistake your gadgets for a snack.
To that end, we’ve put together a week of stories that explore the intersection of technology and pet ownership. Read on for how to take a decent photograph of your cat, pet scales and the chunky companions who need them, and takes on our favorite tools, both simple and complex.
My parrot ate my keyboard
One of the great joys in life is having pets. The unconditional love, the snuggles, the excitement they show when you get home - these things add an emotional fulfillment to daily existence that can't be achieved in another way. I think everyone's life would be better with a pet (or two) in their lives. It's an incredible experience. Except for those few times when it isn't.
Both my wife and I work from home, and in a two-bedroom Los Angeles apartment with a kid, two dogs, and a bird, we're constantly in close quarters. Kiyo, our Senegal parrot, has the best view of us all with his cage situated at a corner wraparound window in our living r …
Oops! My cat is an iPad kid
Pets, like children, come with the responsibility to keep them happy, healthy, and mentally stimulated - obligations I readily committed to before getting my cat, Trevor. I work from home, so he's never lonely, and play with him using a mountain of toys at every opportunity outside of my working hours. But younger cats can be incredibly demanding of your attention. I simply don't have the capacity to physically entertain Trevor every time he yowls at me (constantly) or distract him from chewing every cable he can get his paws on (also constantly).
Unlike children, one of the perks of having a blissfully simple animal is that there are far f …
How I turned my fish tank high tech
When I was a kid, I owned two goldfish that eventually outgrew the size of their tank. At the time, I didn't realize just how much actually goes into having fish and keeping them healthy. I've learned a lot over the past couple of years while keeping nano fish - a group of five celestial pearl danios and four corydoras habrosus - along with some live plants.
After filling up a 10-gallon tank with water and adding a filter, I was eager to add my first fish, but I soon found out that the tank must run without fish for several weeks to establish beneficial bacteria and create a stable underwater environment. But the work doesn't stop there. Ca …