The block button on X has changed. Now, it allows blocked users to see posts of the accounts that blocked them, but they still can’t interact with those accounts. You also can’t follow or message the user.
X previously said it was making the change because users can already see and interact with blocked accounts by switching to a non-blocked account. X also said blocking the old way could be used to share and hide harmful or private information about those they’ve blocked, so the new feature allows “greater transparency.”
Experts on social-media abuse disagree, noting these changes will help stalkers and trolls. “Enabling blocked users to see posts is catering to abusers and stalkers, indulging and facilitating their behaviors,” wrote London Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman last month.
While that is unlikely to sway opinion at X, the changes may run afoul of rules on iOS and Google Play app stores. Apple, for one, states in its developer terms of service that any apps with user-generated content must offer “the ability to block abusive users from the service.” There’s still a block button, of course, but it’s not really blocking anyone anymore.
— Mat Smith
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Advanced ray tracing, higher frame rates and more.
Sony just published a list of 50-plus games with enhanced versions when the console launches later this week. It includes hits like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarök. Expect to see improvements like advanced ray tracing, higher frame rates and Sony’s proprietary upscaling system, called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. Gran Turismo 7 is missing, despite an already announced enhanced version. It must not be ready yet. Final Fantasy XVI is also absent from the list, with its own frame rate struggles on the base PS5.
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Black Mirror: Bandersnatch will survive the cull.
Netflix is deleting much of its interactive content, according to The Verge. The platform currently lists 24 Interactive Specials, but only four of them will remain after December 1. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls will all live to stream another day. Sadly, specials based on Carmen Sandiego, Boss Baby and Puss in Boots, won’t.
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The beta’s available to Fire TV customers from today.
Amazon just launched a new tool for Prime Video that uses AI to generate personalized recaps. X-Ray Recaps uses generative AI to create “brief, easy-to-digest summaries” of entire TV seasons, single episodes or even portions of episodes. All personalized. So the recap will go up to the “exact minute of where you are watching.” There are a lot of limits, however: X-Ray Recaps launches in beta for Fire TV customers and right now, it only works with content made by Amazon MGM Studios, like Upload, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Wheel of Time and The Boys.
Still, it might be a good time for me to finally get into The Boys.
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