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Meta Is Shutting Down Horizon Worlds on Meta Quest

WIRED

Meta's flailing virtual reality social experience is being discontinued in June. It's part of Meta's broader moves to slim down the business that became its namesake. Pour one out from your digital bottle, because Meta is shutting down the virtual reality experience of Horizon Worlds. Meta sent an email blast to Horizon Worlds users today stating that the social VR world will officially end on its Quest VR headsets; starting March 31, Horizon Worlds will no longer be in the Quest store. Some Horizon-specific perks, including Meta Credits, avatars, and some digital clothes and in-world purchases, will also be removed.


Dyson's New PencilWash Is Here

WIRED

Dyson's Newest Wet Floor Cleaner Is Available as of Today The debut follows the release of Dyson's newest robot vacuum and larger wet cleaner last week. Welcome to a new world of mopping options from Dyson. After announcing several new models last year at IFA Berlin, Dyson has begun rolling out its latest suite of vacuums and wet floor cleaners to the public. Last week, Dyson's newest robot vacuum, the Spot+Scrub Ai ($1,200), became available for purchase online, along with the Clean+Wash Hygiene ($500), one of the brand's new wet floor cleaners. The recently announced Dyson PencilWash ($350) is available as of today.


Should You Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight?

WIRED

Should You Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight? It used to be common wisdom that leaving your phone charging overnight degrades the battery. But handset design has evolved to mitigate the harm caused by constant charging. You may have heard that leaving your smartphone charging overnight--either plugged in or atop a wireless charger --can damage your battery. But is it actually harmful or dangerous to do that?


Google Maps Gets Chatty With a New Gemini-Powered Interface

WIRED

"Ask Maps," rolling out today to Google Maps on mobile, lets you ask Gemini questions about locations and even to plan trips on your behalf. There's a new button in Google Maps: "Ask Maps." Google started rolling out this new generative AI feature today, a conversational, in-app tool that combines data from Maps with a user experience similar to the company's Gemini chatbot. It's designed to answer questions about locations and schedule routes in the navigation app. This is part of Google's overall strategy of adding Gemini to all its products.


Birdfy Discount Code: Save Up to 40% on Smart Bird Feeders

WIRED

Use these verified Birdfy discount codes to score up to 40% off smart feeders, camera kits, and accessories. If you think you're seeing more birds around your neighborhood right now, it's not a coincidence. Spring is one of the busiest times of the year for bird activity. Not only are migratory birds returning to their nesting sites, but local birds are building nests, looking for mates, defending territories, and hunting for prey that's just starting to emerge post-winter. If you're interested in seeing all this activity up close, there's no better way than with a smart bird feeder .


Metadata Exposes Authors of ICE's 'Mega' Detention Center Plans

WIRED

Comments and other data left on a PDF detailing Homeland Security's proposal to build "mega" detention and processing centers reveal the personnel involved in its creation. A PDF that Department of Homeland Security officials provided to New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte's office about a new effort to build "mega" detention and processing centers across the United States contains embedded comments and metadata identifying the people who worked on it. The seemingly accidental exposure of the identities of DHS personnel who crafted Immigration and Customs Enforcement's mega detention center plan lands amid widespread public pushback against the expansion of ICE detention centers and the department's brutal immigration enforcement tactics. Metadata in the document, which concerns ICE's "Detention Reengineering Initiative" (DRI), lists as its author Jonathan Florentino, the director of ICE's Newark, New Jersey, Field Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. In a note embedded on top of an FAQ question, "What is the average length of stay for the aliens?"


This AI Tool Will Tell You to Stop Slacking Off

WIRED

Fomi watches you work, then scolds you when your attention wanders. It's helpful, but there are privacy issues to consider. I've tested a lot of software tools over the years designed to block distractions and keep you focused. None of them work perfectly, mostly because of context. Reddit, for example, is something I should generally avoid during the workday, so I tend to block it--this is a good decision for me overall.


Burnt Hair and Soft Power: A Night Out With Evie Magazine

WIRED

Evie is a longtime favorite of far-right. At its very first live event, the strength of the publication's politics was in the pretense that it doesn't have any. Just after 8:00 pm on Sunday night, Evie Magazine's first live event was finally getting started. The women's magazine, which was founded in 2019 and once described itself as a " conservative Cosmo," welcomed eager fans to celebrate the publication, generally, and its new issue, specifically, during New York Fashion Week at the Standard Hotel's Boom in Chelsea. Guests lined up outside, hugging fur coats around formal dresses, as hosts scanned a list for their names. One blonde woman begged for access to the VIP section; an event planner ran downstairs to tell her coworkers that someone's hair had caught on fire.


The Best Noise-Canceling Headphones for Traveling Are 50 Off

WIRED

With excellent noise canceling, the QuietComfort Ultra 2 would love to join you on your next long-haul flight. Our favorite pair of wireless headphones for traveling are currently marked down by $50. You can pick up the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 from Amazon for just $399 in both Black and Driftwood Sand, with the other colors remaining at their full price. Bose is known for incredible active noise canceling, and the latest generation of QuietComfort over-ear headphones is no different. Our reviewer Ryan Waniata was extremely impressed with the Bose, despite only minor upgrades, and considers them among the top three headsets when it comes to ANC, rivaled only by Sony's WH-1000XM6 and Bose's first-generation QuietComfort Ultra .


The Simplest Android App for Scanning Documents

WIRED

Most scanning apps try to get you to buy a cloud storage subscription or pay for extras. Not FairScan, which is free and open-source, and has some powerful features. If you're interested in going paperless, you probably think you need a scanner. It's true that hardware scanners make turning multipage documents into PDFs very simple. But most of us don't have easy access to a scanner.