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Hindenburg Research, a short seller that targeted tech and EV companies, is closing up shop

When Hindenburg Research posts a blog on its website, it often means a company’s final days are near. Today, that company is Hindenburg Research. Nate Anderson announced Wednesday he has shut down short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, after a seven-year run issuing damning reports about high-profile companies, including many of the technology world’s giants and buzzy […]

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The Supreme Court could decide the fate of Pornhub — and the rest of the internet

Illustration of a stop sign over a window of flesh colored pixels.
Cath Virginia / The Verge

In Supreme Court oral arguments over a potentially seismic change to the internet, the most memorable question came from Justice Samuel Alito. “One of the parties here is the owner of Pornhub, right?” Alito asked Derek Shaffer, lawyer for the adult industry group Free Speech Coalition. “Is it like the old Playboy magazine? You have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr.?”

The massive adult web portal Pornhub, in case you’re wondering, does not publish essays by distinguished intellectuals. (Shaffer notes that it does host sexual wellness videos.) The question inspired a slew of commentary on social media, alongside a few quips directed at Justice Clarence Thomas, who declared during oral argument that “Playboy was about squiggly lines on cable TV.” But as funny as the quotes were, what the justices were getting at was hardly a joke: how much protection does sexual content and other legal speech deserve, if hosted online?

FSC v. Paxton concerns Texas’ HB 1181, which requires sites with a large proportion of sexually explicit content to verify users’ ages and post scientifically unproven health warnings about how porn “is proven to harm...

Read the full story at The Verge.

Tubi will livestream the 2025 Super Bowl for free in 4K

The Super Bowl tends to be a cultural moment, even for people who don't know an extra point from a safety. This year, if you want to see the whole program, including the halftime show by Kendrick Lamar, there will be a free streaming option. The broadcast will be available in 4K on Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming TV platform owned by Fox.

This year marks the first time Tubi will have the NFL's final matchup as part of its programming. Fox Sports announced its plans to mark the occasion of Super Bowl LIX with a "takeover" of Tubi, including not just the livestream of the game, but also a special red carpet pre-show. Tubi will also have a Countdown to the Super Bowl on the NFL channel starting January 28 that will highlight big moments from the championship's history.

Super Bowl LIX will be available to watch on FOX, FOX Deportes, Tubi and Telemundo, as well as on NFL digital properties, without requiring any paid-TV authentication. The game takes place on February 9.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/tubi-will-livestream-the-2025-super-bowl-for-free-in-4k-232831563.html?src=rss

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© USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect / Reuters

Aug 24, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; General view of the NFL logo on a goalpost during warmups prior to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

USDOT sues Southwest Airlines over ‘chronically delayed’ flights

US-AVIATION-TRANSPORTATION
Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is suing Southwest Airlines for “illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights and disrupting passengers’ travel,” according to a press release.

The USDOT’s investigation found that “Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights — one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, Calif, and another between Baltimore, Md. and Cleveland, Ohio — that resulted in 180 flight disruptions for passengers between April and August 2022,” per the release. “Each flight was chronically delayed for five straight months.”

A flight is considered chronically delayed if “it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time,” the USDOT says.

“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to file a lawsuit over two flights that occurred more than two years ago,” Southwest spokesperson Laura Swift says in a statement to The Verge. “Since DOT issued its Chronically Delayed Flight (CDF) policy in 2009, Southwest has operated more than 20 million flights with no other CDF violations. Any claim that these two flights represent an unrealistic schedule is simply not credible when compared with our performance over the past 15 years. In 2024, Southwest led the industry by completing more than 99% of its flights without cancellation.”

In addition, the USDOT is taking “enforcement action” against Frontier Airlines for operating chronically delayed flights. USDOT has fined Frontier $650,000 in civil penalties; the US Treasury will be paid $325,000, while the other $325,000 will be suspended if Frontier “does not operate any chronically delayed flights in the next three years,” the USDOT says.

Frontier Airlines spokesperson Jennifer F. de la Cruz declined to comment.

Earlier this month, USDOT announced a $2 million penalty against JetBlue for operating chronically delayed flights. The USDOT also fined Southwest Airlines in 2023 over a holiday meltdown that stranded millions in 2022.

From Clicks to Connection: Tech’s Role in Creating Lifelong Consumers

This post was created in partnership with Fetch During Adweek's webinar, From Clicks to Connection: Tech's Role in Creating Lifelong Consumers, industry leaders explored how brands can use technology, AI, and personalization to drive emotional connections, build community, and create lasting relationships. Robin Wheeler, chief revenue officer at Fetch, kicked off the event by highlighting...

Obsbot’s Tiny SE is a $99 pan and tilt webcam that tracks your movements

The Obsbot Tiny SE webcam mounted on top of a monitor.
The Tiny SE includes an integrated stand allowing it to sit atop a laptop’s screen or a monitor. | Image: Obsbot

Obsbot has announced a $99 webcam with a two-axis motorized mount that’s capable of tracking and dynamically reframing subjects. The Tiny SE is available now for $99, making it one of the cheapest ways to add a tracking camera to your streaming setup.

To hit that price tag for a two-axis gimbal-mounted webcam with tracking capabilities, the Tiny SE comes with one notable limitation: it tops out at 1080p. For comparison, the $199 Insta360 Link 2 can do 4K at up to 30fps, while Obsbot still offers its 4K-capable Tiny 2 Lite for $179.

Image quality will be lower than more expensive options, but the Tiny SE should still outperform the webcams built into many laptops. It can stream at 1080p at up to 100fps (or up to 120fps with the resolution dropped to 720p) and supports staggered HDR recording at up to 60fps.

A simulated image of the Obsbot Tiny SE camera tracking a person’s upper torso. Image: Obsbot
The Tiny SE’s tracking can be limited to certain parts of the body like a person’s hands or their upper or lower torso.

The webcam can reframe and tighten up a shot so it better focuses on a person and what they’re interacting with, and it can be limited to track specific body parts like the lower body or the hand, or to keep their face hidden. But with no optical zoom capabilities — only 4x digital zoom — image quality will be further reduced. Using the Obsbot Center app, available for Windows and macOS, you can even adjust the composition of a shot, so tracked targets don’t always appear in the middle of the frame.

Other features include the ability to use hand gestures to manually adjust the framing of a shot while on camera, a built-in microphone with three noise reduction levels, background blur for increased privacy, and a standard tripod mount on the bottom for more flexibility on where it can be used.

How IRCode Is Inspiring New Creative Strategies that Enhance Brand Engagement

This post was created in partnership with IRCode Online interaction is evolving, and so is how brands connect with their audiences. At Adweek's CES House Sunset Soiree, Matty Beckerman, founder and CEO of IRCode, demonstrated a groundbreaking technology (IRCode) poised to transform industries ranging from retail to entertainment. IRCode replaces traditional QR codes by embedding...

State Farm Halts Super Bowl Ad, Delays Severance Campaign as LA Fires Rage

State Farm has canceled plans to run an ad during Super Bowl 59 and has paused filming on a campaign with a tie-in to Apple TV+ drama Severance as the Los Angeles wildfires continue to burn. The Super Bowl ad would have been State Farm's second consecutive year in the game. Last year's ad, created...

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