Category: News and Views

Google, Spotify Down in a Massive Outage Affecting Thousands | Entrepreneur

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Google Cloud and Spotify are down for tens of thousands of users, according to Downdetector.com. Early reports suggest a massive Cloudflare outage is to blame.

Is Google Down?

The Google Workspace Dashboard noted that the company was “investigating reports of an issue” with a slew of Google services, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Chat, Google Cloud Search, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Tasks, and Google Voice.

“We will provide more information shortly,” the post says. “Our engineers are currently investigating the issue. We apologize to all who are affected by the disruption.”

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YouTube is bringing more ads to Premium Lite plans | Mashable

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When YouTube introduced its Premium Lite tier in March, the goal was to give people a way to see fewer ads on YouTube. It took only three months, but YouTube is already increasing the number of ads that Premium Lite subscribers will see, according to Dextero.

News of the ad hike spread to subscribers through email, as spotted on the TWiT Community forums and reported by German news site Deskmodder.

“We are writing to let you know that beginning 30 June 2025, ads may appear on Shorts, in addition to music content and when you search or browse,” the email reads. “Most videos will continue to remain ad-free.”

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Friday’s jobs report could show how much US employers will bend before they break | CNN Business

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Last June, after almost a full year on the job hunt, Jordan Williams landed a role at a high-growth, United Kingdom-based outdoor apparel brand that was looking to build out its US operations.

Passenger Clothing was well positioned for expansion: The company landed orders with REI, Scheels and others; and Williams, a Portland, Oregon-based outdoor industry veteran, was excited for the ride.

Until April.

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The Nintendo Switch 2 launches today. Here’s what to know | CNN Business

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It’s a big day for Nintendo fans. The gaming giant’s new console, the Switch 2, arrives on store shelves globally after being announced in April — marking Nintendo’s first major console launch since the original Switch arrived roughly eight years ago.

And fans have clearly been waiting; 2.2 million people applied for a lottery system to buy the Switch 2 in Japan, according to a translation of an X post from Nintendo in April. Nearly all US Best Buy stores opened just after midnight to accommodate eager fans.

The Switch 2, priced at $450 in the US, can be played in handheld mode, when propped up on a table; or on a TV when plugged in to its accompanying dock, like its predecessor. While the formula is the same as that of the original Switch, Nintendo has made significant upgrades to the hardware, including giving its new console a larger screen, upgraded versions of the Joy-Con controllers and new social features.

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Australian ‘trash parrots’ have now developed a local ‘drinking tradition’ | Live Science

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Wild cockatoos in Sydney, Australia have learned to drink from twist-handle water fountains, turning the knob with their feet and using their body weight to keep it open. They even queue to have a drink, waiting to take turns on the fountain, footage shows.

The behavior qualifies as a new local tradition, according to a study published Wednesday (June 4) in the journal Biology Letters that analyzed videos of these cockatoos showing off their fountain-manipulating skills.

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What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? New research suggests it may have taken place inside a black hole | Live Science

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The Big Bang is often described as the explosive birth of the universe — a singular moment when space, time and matter sprang into existence. But what if this was not the beginning at all? What if our universe emerged from something else — something more familiar and radical at the same time?

In a new paper, published in Physical Review D, my colleagues and I propose a striking alternative. Our calculations suggest the Big Bang was not the start of everything, but rather the outcome of a gravitational crunch or collapse that formed a very massive black hole — followed by a bounce inside it.

This idea, which we call the black hole universe, offers a radically different view of cosmic origins, yet it is grounded entirely in known physics and observations.

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Canadian wildfires cause evacuations for over 25,000 in Manitoba | Fast Company

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More than 25,000 residents in three provinces have been evacuated as dozens of wildfires remained active Sunday and diminished air quality in parts of Canada and the U.S., according to officials.

Most of the evacuated residents were from Manitoba, which declared a state of emergency last week. About 17,000 people there were evacuated by Saturday along with 1,300 in Alberta. About 8,000 people in Saskatchewan had been relocated as leaders there warned the number could climb.

Smoke was worsening air quality and reducing visibility in Canada and into some U.S. states along the border.

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DOE orders Pennsylvania power plant to run through the summer | Fast Company

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The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered another power plant, this time an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania, to keep its turbines running through the hottest summer months as a precaution against electricity shortfalls in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid.

The department’s order to the grid operator, PJM Interconnection, regarding the Eddystone power plant just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River, is the department’s second use of federal power under President Donald Trump to require a power plant to keep operating on the mainland United States.

Constellation Energy had planned to shut down Eddystone’s units 3 and 4 on Saturday, but Trump’s Department of Energy ordered the company to continue operating the units until at least Aug. 28. The units can produce a combined 760 megawatts.

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Donatos to Open Fully Autonomous Pizza Restaurant at Columbus Airport | Small Biz Trends

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Donatos Pizza is launching its first fully autonomous pizza restaurant in June, introducing a robot-operated kitchen at John Glenn Columbus International Airport in partnership with Appetronix and HMSHost.

The new location, situated before security in front of Concourse B, will be open 24/7 and operated by HMSHost. It will feature robotics and data science technology to deliver made-to-order pizzas quickly and efficiently for airport travelers. Customers will be able to watch their pizzas being prepared in real-time, offering both speed and an engaging experience.

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Airbnb Reinstates Anti-Party Technology for Summer Holidays to Prevent Disruptive Bookings | Small Biz Trends

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As summer travel ramps up, Airbnb is once again activating its anti-party technology across the United States to deter potentially disruptive bookings over Memorial

Airbnb announced on May 19, 2025, that it will again activate its anti-party technology across the United States for the Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends. This marks the fourth consecutive year the company has deployed these defenses to reduce the risk of unauthorized parties on the platform.

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