The Verge logo. on the first full work day of 2021. The company said Monday morning “Customers may have trouble loading channels or connecting to Slack at this time. Our team is investigating and we will follow up with more information as soon as we have it. We apologize for any disruption caused.”Users began reporting issues around 10AM ET, and the company posted its first status update about the problem at 10:14AM. As of 12:29PM ET, the service appeared to be slowly returning to normal for some users — we here at The Verge were able to transition back to Slack and resume work there at...…The Verge logo. on the first full work day of 2021. The company said Monday morning “Customers may have trouble loading channels or connecting to Slack at this time. Our team is investigating and we will follow up with more information as soon as we have it. We apologize for any disruption caused.”Users began reporting issues around 10AM ET, and the company posted its first status update about the problem at 10:14AM. As of 12:29PM ET, the service appeared to be slowly returning to normal for some users — we here at The Verge were able to transition back to Slack and resume work there at...WW…

The Verge logo. The news of Chloé Zhao’s Oscar win for Best Director has been censored on social media and search engines in China at the direction of the country’s propaganda ministry, . Zhao, who was born in Beijing, is the first Chinese woman and first woman of color to take home the Academy Award for directing. at Sunday night’s awards ceremony, and the movie’s star, Frances McDormand, won Best Actress.But according to the Journal, early messages congratulating Zhao had been scrubbed from Chinese social media sites by midday Monday, and searches on Chinese search engines Baidu and Sogou...…The Verge logo. The news of Chloé Zhao’s Oscar win for Best Director has been censored on social media and search engines in China at the direction of the country’s propaganda ministry, . Zhao, who was born in Beijing, is the first Chinese woman and first woman of color to take home the Academy Award for directing. at Sunday night’s awards ceremony, and the movie’s star, Frances McDormand, won Best Actress.But according to the Journal, early messages congratulating Zhao had been scrubbed from Chinese social media sites by midday Monday, and searches on Chinese search engines Baidu and Sogou...WW…

The Verge logo. It looks like problems on Twitter that began Friday night are persisting Saturday morning. People on the east coast of the US were reporting that while the page would load, they were unable to send tweets and DMs. As of 11 AM ET Saturday, the site was still experiencing issues for many users.There’s no official word on how widespread the outage is, but Twitter said Saturday it was “fixing an issue” with its servers. Twitter Support posted a brief message Friday night that it was looking into the matter, and updated it Saturday morning.We know that parts of Twitter still...…The Verge logo. It looks like problems on Twitter that began Friday night are persisting Saturday morning. People on the east coast of the US were reporting that while the page would load, they were unable to send tweets and DMs. As of 11 AM ET Saturday, the site was still experiencing issues for many users.There’s no official word on how widespread the outage is, but Twitter said Saturday it was “fixing an issue” with its servers. Twitter Support posted a brief message Friday night that it was looking into the matter, and updated it Saturday morning.We know that parts of Twitter still...WW…

The Verge logo. Insurance company Geico suffered a data breach earlier this year that exposed customers’ driver’s license numbers for more than a month, according to a filed with the attorney general of California. First reported by , Geico says in the notice that it has fixed the security issue that led to the breach.“We recently determined that between January 21, 2021 and March 1, 2021, fraudsters used information about you – which they acquired elsewhere – to obtain unauthorized access to your driver’s license number through the online sales system on our website,” the notice reads. “We...…The Verge logo. Insurance company Geico suffered a data breach earlier this year that exposed customers’ driver’s license numbers for more than a month, according to a filed with the attorney general of California. First reported by , Geico says in the notice that it has fixed the security issue that led to the breach.“We recently determined that between January 21, 2021 and March 1, 2021, fraudsters used information about you – which they acquired elsewhere – to obtain unauthorized access to your driver’s license number through the online sales system on our website,” the notice reads. “We...WW…

The Verge logo. Authorities in Texas say two people were killed when a Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat crashed into a tree and burst into flames, Houston television station .The cause of the crash, which happened at about 9PM local time in Spring, Texas (near Houston), is under investigation. in Houston, first responders had to use 30,000 gallons of water over four hours to put out the fire, as the Tesla’s battery kept reigniting. Authorities tried to contact Tesla for advice on putting out the fire; it’s not clear whether they received any response.Two men dead after fiery...…The Verge logo. Authorities in Texas say two people were killed when a Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat crashed into a tree and burst into flames, Houston television station .The cause of the crash, which happened at about 9PM local time in Spring, Texas (near Houston), is under investigation. in Houston, first responders had to use 30,000 gallons of water over four hours to put out the fire, as the Tesla’s battery kept reigniting. Authorities tried to contact Tesla for advice on putting out the fire; it’s not clear whether they received any response.Two men dead after fiery...WW…

The Verge logo. Charles “Chuck” Geschke, a co-founder of Adobe who helped develop the PDF, has died at age 81, the company said in a . “This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community and the technology industry, for whom he has been a guide and hero for decades,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email to Adobe employees.”As co-founders of Adobe, Chuck and John Warnock developed groundbreaking software that has revolutionized how people create and communicate,” Narayen said. “Chuck instilled a relentless drive for innovation in the company, resulting in some of the most...…The Verge logo. Charles “Chuck” Geschke, a co-founder of Adobe who helped develop the PDF, has died at age 81, the company said in a . “This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community and the technology industry, for whom he has been a guide and hero for decades,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email to Adobe employees.”As co-founders of Adobe, Chuck and John Warnock developed groundbreaking software that has revolutionized how people create and communicate,” Narayen said. “Chuck instilled a relentless drive for innovation in the company, resulting in some of the most...WW…

The Verge logo. Twitter has removed more than 50 tweets critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and did so at the request of the Indian government. First reported by , the Indian government sent Twitter an emergency order on Friday to censor 52 tweets, according to a . The censored accounts include a sitting member of India’s Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor, and a West Bengal state minister. A Twitter spokesperson said in an email to The Verge that the company may make certain tweets unable to be viewed by people within India if the tweets violate...…The Verge logo. Twitter has removed more than 50 tweets critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and did so at the request of the Indian government. First reported by , the Indian government sent Twitter an emergency order on Friday to censor 52 tweets, according to a . The censored accounts include a sitting member of India’s Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor, and a West Bengal state minister. A Twitter spokesperson said in an email to The Verge that the company may make certain tweets unable to be viewed by people within India if the tweets violate...WW…

The Verge logo. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in his as CEO that the e-commerce giant has to “do a better job for our employees.” The letter comes amid ongoing reports of untenable conditions for Amazon workers. And it outlines a strategy that seems odd for a company that has been accused of treating workers like robots: a robotic scheme that will develop new staffing schedules using an algorithm.Bezos pushed back on the idea that, according to news reports, Amazon doesn’t care for its employees. “In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as...…The Verge logo. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in his as CEO that the e-commerce giant has to “do a better job for our employees.” The letter comes amid ongoing reports of untenable conditions for Amazon workers. And it outlines a strategy that seems odd for a company that has been accused of treating workers like robots: a robotic scheme that will develop new staffing schedules using an algorithm.Bezos pushed back on the idea that, according to news reports, Amazon doesn’t care for its employees. “In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as...WW…

The Verge logo. Google is shutting down its mobile Shopping apps for both iOS and Android and directing users to its web Shopping site instead, reported. On Friday, discovered that the term “sunset” had been added to several strings of code in the Shopping app, suggesting the apps were being discontinued. A Google spokesperson told 9to5 Google that the apps will continue to function through June. “Within the next few weeks, we’ll no longer be supporting the Shopping app. All of the functionality the app offered users is available on the Shopping tab,” the spokesperson said. We’ll continue...…The Verge logo. Google is shutting down its mobile Shopping apps for both iOS and Android and directing users to its web Shopping site instead, reported. On Friday, discovered that the term “sunset” had been added to several strings of code in the Shopping app, suggesting the apps were being discontinued. A Google spokesperson told 9to5 Google that the apps will continue to function through June. “Within the next few weeks, we’ll no longer be supporting the Shopping app. All of the functionality the app offered users is available on the Shopping tab,” the spokesperson said. We’ll continue...WW…

Filed under:You might see this pop-up when you open InstagramFacebook has started flipping the switch on integrating the chat systems for Instagram and Messenger. On Friday evening, several editors at The Verge across the country — on both iOS and Android devices — noticed an update screen popped up in Instagram’s mobile app with the message “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram” with a list of features including a “new colorful look for your chats,” more emoji reactions, swipe-to-reply, and the big one: “chat with friends who use Facebook.”Once you hit update, the regular DM icon in...…Filed under:You might see this pop-up when you open InstagramFacebook has started flipping the switch on integrating the chat systems for Instagram and Messenger. On Friday evening, several editors at The Verge across the country — on both iOS and Android devices — noticed an update screen popped up in Instagram’s mobile app with the message “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram” with a list of features including a “new colorful look for your chats,” more emoji reactions, swipe-to-reply, and the big one: “chat with friends who use Facebook.”Once you hit update, the regular DM icon in...WW…