Innehållsförteckning för #510 från AppleMagazine

William Edward Mann enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in rural Washington state. A guitar player, he picked up the ukulele while stationed in Hawaii. He’s been presumed dead since Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor and set off a massive explosion that sank his battleship, the USS Arizona, launching the U.S. into World War II. Now, his niece is among some families of crew members who are demanding the U.S. military take advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify 85 sailors and Marines from the Arizona who were buried as unknowns. They say the military has disinterred and identified remains from other Pearl Harbor battleships and should do the same for their loved ones. “These men matter and they served. They gave…

Sony’s April-June profit rose 9% to 211.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion) as the Japanese electronics and video game maker continued to benefit from a sales perk from the hit “Demon Slayer” animation film. Healthy results in its music streaming business and robust demand for digital cameras, image sensors and the PlayStation 5 video game console helped Tokyo-based Sony Corp.’s quarterly sales grow 15% to 2.26 trillion yen ($20.7 billion), the company said this week. Sony had posted a 193.6 billion yen quarterly profit the previous year. Sony raised its full year profit forecast to 700 billion yen ($6.4 billion) from an earlier 660 billion yen ($6 billion). The higher projection is still a drop from the 1 trillion yen profit Sony had racked up the previous fiscal year, when its…

If you’re homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eye to make sure you don’t have a fever. That’s just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, the best-known of a new commercial category of robots that trot around with animal-like agility. The handful of police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they’re just another tool, like existing drones and simple wheeled robots, to keep emergency responders out of harm’s way as they scout for dangers. But privacy watchdogs — the human kind — warn that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanizing uses. In Honolulu, the police department spent about…

A recommendation to nullify the election results of an Amazon union vote in Bessemer, Alabama is breathing new life into the labor movement. The recommendation was issued Monday by a hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board, who said that Amazon potentially interfered with the April election in which warehouse workers overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to unionize. Labor experts say that it’s rare for a hearing officer to call for a new election but in the case of Amazon, there’s a good chance it will happen since the NLRB regional director usually sticks with the hearing officer’s guidance. Moreover, the labor board’s standards in determining a new election favors the union, not Amazon. The board needs to only figure out whether the company “reasonably tended to interfere with the…

Remember lighthearted throwback adventure movies? “The Mummy”? “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”? “Pirates of the Caribbean”? The first one, at least? How about the classic romantic banter of a handsome but wholly mismatched pair in “Romancing the Stone” or “The African Queen”? “ Jungle Cruise ” certainly does and isn’t about to let you forget it, either. This is a film whose sole purpose is to remind you of at least a dozen other movies that you remember fondly and coast from there. And it almost gets away with it thanks entirely to its charismatic and entirely game stars Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, who mostly make you forget that you’re watching a movie based on a theme park ride that seems to have been made-to-order at the nostalgia…

It’s a perfect day for Reese Witherspoon as the actress and producer is selling the media company she founded to a newly formed company backed by private equity firm Blackstone Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal was worth about $900 million. Witherspoon, known for her roles in films such as “Legally Blonde” and “Walk the Line,” created Hello Sunshine in 2016. She will continue to oversee its day-to-day operations along with members of Hello Sunshine’s existing senior management team, including CEO Sarah Harden. Witherspoon and Harden will also serve as board members for the new media company run by entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Hello Sunshine, which focuses on putting women at the center of its stories,…

A Russian space official blamed a software problem on a newly docked science lab for briefly knocking the International Space Station out of position. The space station lost control of its orientation for 47 minutes, when Russia’s Nauka science lab accidentally fired its thrusters a few hours after docking, pushing the orbiting complex from its normal configuration. The station’s position is key for getting power from solar panels and for communications with space support teams back on Earth. The space station’s communications with ground controllers also blipped out twice for a few minutes. Vladimir Solovyov, flight director of the space station’s Russian segment, blamed the incident on a “short-term software failure.” In a statement the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Solovyov said because of the failure, a direct command to turn…

States across the U.S. are looking to adopt new recycling regimes that require producers of packaging to pay for its inevitable disposal — but industry is digging in to try to halt the movement. Maine became the first state to adopt such a program in July when Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill that requires producers of products that involve packaging materials to pay into a new state fund. The fund will be used to reimburse municipalities for recycling and waste management costs. Oregon has approved a similar bill that is awaiting signature from Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, and at least six other state legislatures have similar bills pending, said Yinka Bode-George, environmental health manager for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. Lawmakers in at least four other states…

Buying a hybrid vehicle is typically a smart way to help save money on gas and reduce your carbon footprint compared to a conventional gasoline-only vehicle. Not long ago your shopping choices were largely limited to hybrid hatchbacks and sedans, but the hybrid SUV market has expanded considerably the past few years. The latest hybrid SUVs can get impressive fuel economy while providing plenty of cargo space, a higher ride height, available all-wheel drive and cutting-edge technology features. Media experts have picked five of the best new hybrid SUVs on sale today. They are presented in alphabetical order, and all prices include the destination charge. 2021 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID Base price: $29,920 Fuel economy: 40-41 mpg combined The recently redesigned Ford Escape is a fine crossover SUV, but it’s the…

Zoom will pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that weak privacy controls opened too many peepholes into the personal information of users and that it was too easy for outsiders to disrupt video meetings during the early stages of the pandemic. The proposed agreement must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. A hearing on the settlement is scheduled for Oct. 21 in San Jose, California. Millions of people in the U.S. who have used Zoom since March 31, 2020 could be eligible for a slice of the settlement that was reached over the weekend. The payment amounts are expected to average $34 or $35 for those who subscribed to Zoom’s paid version, and $11 or $12 for the overwhelming majority who used the free version,…

F9: The Fast Saga Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) has settled down for a quiet life with his wife Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), but soon reemerges from retirement to confront his brother Jakob (John Cena), who is intent on a dangerous plot encouraged by cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron). FIVE FACTS: 1. This is the first Fast & Furious film directed by Justin Lin since 2013’s Fast & Furious 6. 2. F9 heavily features Red Digital Cinema’s Hydrogen One smartphone, which was discontinued in November 2019 – after filming was completed but well before the movie was released. 3. Sportswriter and podcaster Bill Simmons cameos as a pit crew member. 4. The eight main Fast & Furious films and its 2019 spinoff, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, have together grossed…

One little article separates James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” from David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad.” But, oh, what a difference a word makes. Just five years after the trainwreck that prompted Warner Bros. to retool its DC Comics universe, James Gunn’s nearly wholesale redo exists in an entirely different movie galaxy. “The Suicide Squad” may go down as one of the greatest, and quickest, do-overs in blockbusterdom. Like Gunn’s two “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, “The Suicide Squad” is a chaotic, freewheeling inversion of much of what’s expected in a comic book movie. Here, heroes die (a lot of them). Most aren’t really heroes, either. Some aren’t even human. But they’ve been sprung from prison for a kamikaze mission on behalf of the U.S. government. In this motliest of crews, no…

Tyson Foods will require all of its U.S. employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, becoming one of the first major employers of front-line workers to do so amid a resurgence of the virus. Microsoft also announced this week that it will require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors and visitors to its U.S. offices starting in September, following similar actions recently taken by Google and Facebook. Microsoft also postponed its planned return to the workplace from September to no earlier than Oct. 4, although it will allow flexibility for some employees to continue working from home, including parents of children who are not eligible for vaccines. While vaccination mandates have gained traction among employers, many of the companies adopting them have workforces that can transition to remote locations easily.…

China’s biggest gaming company, Tencent Holdings, said it will limit gaming time for minors and ban children under age 12 from making in-game purchases after a state media article called games “spiritual opium.” Tencent’s pledge to curb gaming for minors came hours after the company’s stock plunged as much as 11% following a critique published by the Economic Information Daily, a newspaper affiliated with China’s official Xinhua News Agency. The newspaper article named Tencent’s wildly popular Honor of Kings game as one that minors were addicted to, and cited a student as saying that some played the game for eight hours a day. The online article was removed hours later. “‘Spiritual opium’ has grown into an industry worth hundreds of billions,” the newspaper said, adding that no industry should be…

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said that investors need more protection in the cryptocurrency market, which he said is “rife with fraud, scams and abuse.” Gary Gensler, appointed by President Joe Biden to lead the body that regulates securities markets, listed several areas where crypto needed to be reigned in or regulated, particularly with regard to money laundering, sanctions, tax collection and extortion via ransomware. “Right now, we just don’t have enough investor protection in crypto,” Gensler said in remarks to the Aspen Institute’s forum on security, “Frankly, at this time, it’s more like the Wild West.” Digital currencies, like Bitcoin, have been left largely unregulated by major governments up to this point. In June, China ordered cryptocurrency mining operations shut down and banks started refusing to…

Digital payments company Square Inc. says it has agreed to acquire Afterpay, which provides a “buy now, pay later” option for merchants, in an all-stock deal valued at about $29 billion. Square allows retailers to process credit card transactions using devices that plug into tablets or smartphones. The San Francisco-based company said it plans to integrate Afterpay into its services, enabling merchants to offer customers the option to pay for goods later without relying on a credit card. Afterpay users would be able to manage their installment payments directly in Square’s cash app. “Square and Afterpay have a shared purpose,” Square CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement. Some 70 million people use Square’s cash app. As of June 30, Afterpay was serving more than 16 million users and nearly…

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Jennifer Sherlock went out with a few men she met through dating apps. The dates were “weird,” she said, and not just because they were masked, socially distanced and outdoors. One one occasion, a date remained masked while they were out for a stroll, but soon after invited her back to his place, a move Sherlock saw as reckless. “It was so off putting, and awkward,” she said. “So we wouldn’t be safe outside without mask(s), but we would be safe back at his place maskless?” She decided she needed a way to filter people, so she began arranging video chats before agreeing to meet anybody in person. Sherlock, 42, a PR consultant who lives in New Jersey, said it’s a practice she’ll continue post-pandemic.…

Happier Than Ever Billie Eilish “It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t pressured, it wasn’t scary,” Billie Eilish revealed to Apple Music about making her second studio album – which, befitting its title, has a lighter feel than her debut studio album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? from 2019. FIVE FACTS: 1. “I feel like everything I’ve created before this, as much as I love it, was kind of a battle with myself,” Eilish further revealed. 2. Eilish has had various associations with Apple over the years, including being named Apple Music’s Up Next artist in September 2017. 3. The behind-the-scenes documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry was released on Apple’s video streaming service Apple TV+ in February 2021. 4. Eilish performed the song “my future”…

GOTRON JERRYSIS RICKVANGELIONRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) GOING HAM AT THE PAJAMMY JAMTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC, SEASON 6 SHAH-NANIGANSSHAHS OF SUNSET, SEASON 9 RICK & MORTY’S THANKSPLOITATION...RICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) SHE’S A SNAKE IN THE GRASS90 DAY FIANCE: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?, SEASON 6 POWERANIMAL KINGDOM, SEASON 5 WE CAN ALL USE A LITTLE EMPATHYSIESTA KEY, SEASON 4 AMORTYCAN GRICKFITTIRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) AFFAIRS AND ACCIDENTSTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS, SEASON 11 BABY IT’S COLD INSIDE THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, SEASON 13…

With U.S. health officials recommending that children mask up in school this fall, parents and policy makers across the nation have been plunged anew into a debate over whether face coverings should be optional or a mandate. The delta variant of the coronavirus now threatens to upend normal instruction for a third consecutive school year. Some states have indicated they will probably heed the federal government’s guidance and require masks. Others will leave the decision up to parents. The controversy is unfolding at a time when many Americans are at their wits’ end with pandemic restrictions and others fear their children will be put at risk by those who don’t take the virus seriously enough. In a handful of Republican-led states, lawmakers made it illegal for schools to require masks.…

Wake up. Take a coronavirus test. Go to an empty arena. Practice or play a game. Return to the hotel. FaceTime family and friends who they’ve been separated from for weeks. Watch other games on television. Sleep. Such is the typical itinerary for basketball players at the Tokyo Olympics. For those who were in the NBA and WNBA bubbles in Florida last summer, it seems familiar. That has no doubt played a role in both U.S. basketball teams reaching the Olympic semifinals. There are clear similarities between what basketball players are having to endure at these Tokyo Olympics and what went on last summer for NBA players in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and WNBA players in Bradenton, Florida. The days have seemed a bit monotonous, there’s separation from loved ones…