Mastodon, an open-source Twitter alternative, is having a moment

It's Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

News of Twitter's buyout has rattled some users, as Elon Musk indicated he plans to take a much more hands-off approach to content moderation. As is often the case when Twitter makes a change (or infers that one is coming), some users have threatened to leave the platform. Mastodon has been welcoming those that made the jump. Mastodon said it saw “an influx of approx. 41,287 users.”

Mastodon

​​It’s not the first time Mastodon has benefited from Twitter drama. The company was briefly popular in 2017, following outrage over Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from the character limit for replies — yes, they were more innocent times.

— Mat Smith

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Instagram is testing pinned posts for profiles

The app already allows you to add Stories above your photo grid.

Instagram recently began testing a feature for you to highlight specific posts above your photo grid. If you’re among the people the company has enrolled in the trial, you can access the feature by tapping the three dots at the top of a post and selecting the new “pin to your profile” option. It’s pretty much identical to the pinned options you get with other social networks, like Twitter and TikTok. But that’s not stopped Instagram taking inspiration from its rivals. Again.

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Roku will stream 'John Wick 4,' 'Borderlands' and other Lionsgate films for free

They'll arrive immediately after their first streaming window on Starz.

Roku

The Roku Channel has signed a multi-year deal with Lionsgate Films that will allow it to stream upcoming blockbusters like John Wick 4 and Borderlands for free. Roku will get those films in a timely fashion, too: right after their initial streaming windows on Lionsgate's Starz platform.

Roku has made a steady push into free programming, buying all of Quibi's short-form shows last year and later adding content from the Tribeca Film Festival, IGN, CBC News and AccuWeather.

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'Elden Ring' is getting an unofficial Game Boy demake

A demo captures the spirit of the game and that 8-bit '90s Game Boy nostalgia.

Reddit

Elden Ring is famous for its rich open world, but it just got turned into an… ambitious 8-bit rolling adventure demake. It was created by Reddit user Shintendo, who showed off an early demo set in Elden Ring's Chapel of Anticipation. There, a Tarnished faces off against the infamous Grafted Scion boss (and loses, again). Shintendo is aiming to release a demo by the end of May on Itch.io.

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EU warns Elon Musk that Twitter must follow local content rules to avoid ban

Musk's plans for looser moderation are butting up against political reality.

The European Union’s Thierry Breton told the Financial Times that Musk's Twitter will still be subject to EU regulations, including the new Digital Services Act governing efforts to fight misinformation. The Tesla chief is "welcome" but "there are rules" he still has to follow, Breton said. The Digital Services Act requires Twitter and other internet companies to share how they're curbing false claims on their sites. It also bans ads targeting minors as well as specific ethnicities, political affiliations, religions and sexual orientations.

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The Energy Department will block sales of inefficient light bulbs

New efficiency standards may help reduce carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons.

The Department of Energy has finalized rules to block sales of many incandescent light bulbs. The measures bring in stricter efficiency standards, targeting light bulbs that emit less than 45 lumens per watt. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the bulbs turned into a bit of political tennis. The most recent move reverses a decision by the Trump administration in 2019 to roll back stricter standards for bulbs. This was after the Obama administration established rules that would have blocked sales of inefficient light bulbs from January 1st, 2020.

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