FEC reviews stricter rules for political ads on social media

The Federal Exchange Commission has begun reviewing a stricter set of rules for political ads on social media. FEC chief Ellen Weintraub has revealed at a tech conference in Washington that the agency has finished writing up a draft of new rules, months after it agreed to do so following requests from politicians and tech titans alike. She said the commission is hoping to “to be able move this rule-making forward within” the 2018 midterm elections.

The Congress, the Senate, Google and other entities urged the FEC to conjure up tighter regulations for political ads on social networks and the internet as a whole after what happened during the 2016 Presidential Elections. Facebook first revealed in September that Russian troll farms purchased $100,000 worth of ads on its platform, which pointed to fake news Pages meant to sow discord among the country’s citizens. Since around 150 million Facebook and Instagram accounts were exposed to those ads, the company had to create a tool that shows if you followed a Russian troll. Twitter and Google also found evidence that Russian trolls used their platforms in an effort to meddle in the Presidential elections.

Weintraub didn’t reveal the draft’s details during the event, but according to Bloomberg, the new rules focus on ads that directly advocate for a particular candidate. Lawmakers also want political ads on the internet to have the same disclosure requirements TV and radio ads do, but Bloomberg says that’s not the core of the agency’s draft rules.

At the same conference, Katie Harbath, Facebook’s government outreach director, said the social network will start displaying how much money it’s earning on political ads, as well as the age, location and gender of the people who see them. In addition, it’s looking to start verifying people buying ads for a particular political group or candidate. While Harbath didn’t elaborate on how the company plans to do that, it’s worth noting that Facebook recently purchased a start-up whose technology can instantly verify government IDs.

Source: Bloomberg

Elon Musk sells 10,000 flamethrowers as lawmaker calls for ban

Elon Musk revealed on Monday that he’s so far sold $5 million worth of his Boring Company-branded flamethrowers in just a couple of days of sales.

Whoever knew there were so many nuts to roast.

Great for roasting nuts https://t.co/MGmkSJhIyx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018

The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and tunneling outfit The Boring Company said that half of the 20,00-unit consignment of $500 devices have so far been pre-ordered and will be shipping globally in the spring. If it’s not banned.

When people began questioning the flamethrower’s legality, Musk responded that the reach of its flame is shorter than the 10-foot limit stipulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The billionaire entrepreneur added that it’s been designed to offer “max fun for least danger,” claiming he’d be “way more scared of a steak knife.”

But California Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) is having none of it, issuing a statement on Monday announcing his intention to introduce legislation to ban sales of the flamethrower in the state of California.

“I honestly thought it was a joke when the article was read to me,” Santiago said. He added that while he was in awe of Musk’s “genius” for the work he’s doing on other projects, he should understand that “with great power comes responsibility.” And selling a flamethrower for fun really doesn’t seem that responsible.

Santiago also hit out at Musk for apparently moving away from The Boring Company’s core ambition of building a network of futuristic transportation tunnels, saying that the state and Los Angeles have “entrusted Mr. Musk to alleviate a real public policy problem here by executing a tunnel under the city to help alleviate traffic,” adding, “This deviation feels like a real slap in the face.”

Marketing guru

Musk, a man whose past actions demonstrate an effortless ability to grab the headlines, may be playing a blinder with the flamethrower, too. While the company continues to take thousands of orders, he surely knew it would create controversy and perhaps end with him being “forced” to withdraw it from the market and refund customers. And by that time, a lot more folks will know about The Boring Company.

For now, plenty of people are hitting the company’s website to order the flamethrower, which, incidentally, can also be bought together with a Boring Company fire extinguisher.

A video posted on Instagram shows Musk running toward the camera while activating the fire-spitting device, which admittedly seems more blowtorch than flamethrower. In a message underneath, he wrote: “Don’t do this. Also, I want to be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don’t buy one. Unless you like fun.”

But for many people, including Santiago, the product is nothing to laugh about, and he’s now setting about trying ban it.

From caps to … flamethrowers?

So how did we get here? Well, to raise funds for his ambitious tunneling venture, Musk’s Boring Company recently sold a bunch of branded caps at $20 apiece. When they sold out at the end of last year, the CEO promised he’d follow up with a flamethrower. True to his word, the contraption, which looks rather like a modified Airsoft rifle, showed up on the company’s website on Saturday.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Elon Musk starts 2018 with $1M for tunneling plan after ‘boring’ caps sell out
• Check Out Elon Musk’s $500 ‘Boring Company’ flamethrower
• Musk’s Boring Company is ‘capping cap orders at 50,000 caps’
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Waymo orders thousands of Chrysler vans for self-driving taxi service

Waymo already turned 600 Chrysler Pacifica minivans into self-driving vehicles, but apparently, those aren’t enough for the company’s upcoming taxi service. FCA US has revealed that it’s supplying the former Google self-driving division with thousands of Chrysler Pacific minivans and that delivery will begin in late 2018. Waymo will use the vehicles it’s already testing to launch its ride-hailing service in Phoenix this year — the additional driverless minivans will be deployed to other cities when the service expands its reach.

Waymo chief John Krafcik said in a statement:

“With the world’s first fleet of fully self-driving vehicles on the road, we’ve moved from research and development, to operations and deployment. The Pacifica Hybrid minivans offer a versatile interior and a comfortable ride experience, and these additional vehicles will help us scale.”

The company proved it has reached Level 4 autonomy in November 2017, when it started testing the minivans without a driver at the wheel. That was also when the company announced that it’s launching a driverless taxi service “in the next few months” and that it will eventually “cover a region that’s larger than the size of Greater London.” Waymo’s additional order shows just how big and serious its plans are for its taxi fleet and that it’s almost ready to get the service up and running. Just take note that an employee will initially be riding in the car with you to hit the “pull over” button in case of emergencies, but that will likely change in the future.

Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

OneDrive for iOS Updated With Redesigned Interface, Drag and Drop, and Files App Support

Microsoft released an update to its OneDrive app on Tuesday that adds support for the Files app in iOS 11 and brings a host of other new features many of which are responses to user feedback.

To begin with, the interface has been overhauled to make better use of screen space and make filenames easier to read, while an ellipsis button next to each item brings up a new contextual options menu, so users no longer need to long-press a file to take actions.

More generally, thumbnail images have been made larger, shared files are now easier to spot, and the multi-column list view on iPad has been redesigned to be less cluttered and give items and filenames more room to breathe. Another welcome enhancement in version 10.1 is expanded preview support for over 130 file types, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, RAW, 3D objects, high-precision DICOM, TIFF files, iWork Files, Java/C/Swift, and many more.

In addition, OneDrive now supports drag and drop, enabling users to drag files to emails and move them between open tabs on iPhone and iPad. Several iPhone X UI fixes are also in evidence, with the interface now displaying properly in landscape orientation, while a number of annoying bugs have been fixed, including one that made search results vanish whenever a file was opened.

OneDrive is a free download for iPhone and iPad available from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Microsoft, OneDrive
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Samsung Galaxy A8+ review: Throwing down the gauntlet

The Galaxy A8+ is Samsung’s most ambitious showing in the mid-range segment, but that may not be enough.

Samsung is in a tough spot in India. The South Korean manufacturer was virtually unchallenged in the country for the last five years, allowing it to build a commanding lead in the handset segment. The Note 7 was the only blip in an otherwise smooth-sailing ship, but with the device never actually making its debut in the country, Samsung didn’t have to deal with a lengthy recall.

As a result, Samsung was able dictate the segments it competed in. Even now, the Galaxy S8 and the Note 8 are the only real alternatives to the iPhone for those looking to pick up a high-end phone in India, and devices in the budget Galaxy J series continue to sell in the tens of millions of units.

However, there has been a tectonic shift in the Indian handset segment in the last 12 months. The introduction of Jio has fundamentally changed the way Indians consume cellular data, and wide availability of 4G data saw a dramatic boost in sales of budget phones. The main benefactor of this shift was Xiaomi, who climbed up the ranks to claim the top spot in the handset segment on the back of a strong budget portfolio, overtaking Samsung in the process.

Then there’s OnePlus, which effectively owns the premium device category. OnePlus’ ability to offer high-end specs for roughly half the price of the Note 8 has allowed the Chinese manufacturer to consolidate its position in the affordable flagship category.

We’ll get to how Samsung is responding to Xiaomi’s threat in a few weeks’ time, but for now, it’s time to take a look at how the company is gunning after OnePlus with its latest device in the Galaxy A series. This is the Galaxy A8+ 2018.

About this review

I (Harish Jonnalagadda) am writing this review after using the Galaxy A8+ as my daily driver for over two weeks in Hyderabad, India. The unit was provided by Samsung India, and was connected to Airtel’s 4G network for the duration of the review. The device picked up a single software update with stability fixes and the January 1, 2018 security patch.

Galaxy A8+ Specs

Galaxy A8+ Design and hardware

We’re now in the fourth generation of Galaxy A devices. The first-generation launched back in 2014 and offered Samsung’s take on the affordable flagship: a body made out of premium materials backed by solid cameras. Over the years, we’ve also seen features from the Galaxy S series trickle down to Galaxy A devices, namely Samsung pay and IP68 water resistance.

With the Galaxy A8+, Samsung is bringing over its Infinity Display design aesthetic over to the mid-range segment. Like the S8 series and the Note 8, the A8+ has an 18.5:9 panel with narrow bezels, but there are a few differences. First up, the display itself is FHD+ and not QHD+ like the flagships, and the panel isn’t curved. So the overall effect isn’t quite as breathtaking as what you’d get on the Note 8.

The bezels themselves aren’t quite as thin either, and while the rear glass pane has a subtle curve on either side where it meets the aluminum mid-frame, it’s not as pronounced as that on the Note 8. The reasoning for the larger bezels is attributable be the dual camera setup up front, a first for Samsung. The secondary camera at the front is used to create a background blur effect and introduces Live Focus for the front camera, but more on that later.

Rounding out the design, the A8+ features the power button on the right with the volume rocker located to the left. The bottom houses the 3.5mm jack and the USB-C charging port, and oddly enough the loudspeaker is located to the right of the device, just above the power button. The placement isn’t ideal, but the speaker does get sufficiently loud. That said, you’ll run into issues when using hands-free mode for calls as the position prohibits you from hearing the recipient clearly.

The A8+ has provision for two SIM cards and a microSD slot, but instead of a single SIM card tray, you get two. The slot for the first SIM card is located to the right of the device, and the tray for the secondary SIM card and the microSD slot is at the top of the phone. The overall design certainly won’t turn any heads (let’s call it Infinity Display Lite), but the A8+ still comes across as a premium device.

The Galaxy A8+ is no beauty, but it does offer a ton of features.

With dimensions of 159.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm, the Galaxy A8+ is taller, wider, and thicker than the Galaxy S8+, which has a larger 6.2-inch display. At 191g, it’s significantly heavier too over the 173g S8+. The bulky body and the added heft don’t really make the A8+ conducive to one-handed usage. There’s no accounting for why the A8+ is so heavy, as the device has the same 3500mAh battery capacity as the S8+.

Coming to the display, the 6.0-inch Super AMOLED panel isn’t exactly as immersive as the S8+, but the 1080 x 2220 resolution combined with the vibrant colors make it one of the better panels in this category. And being an AMOLED display you get access to Samsung’s Always-On Display mode as well as support for the company’s Gear VR platform.

Like last year’s Galaxy A series, the A8+ is IP68 certified for dust and water resistance, and both SIM card trays are lined with rubber gaskets. Samsung Pay is also back, and if you’re looking for a convenient way to pay for purchases using your phone at hundreds of thousands of retail stores, it doesn’t get any better than Samsung’s mobile payments service. While the Galaxy A8+ doesn’t have wireless charging, you do get fast charging.

Biometrics

To accommodate the minimal-bezel S8+ and Note 8, Samsung had to move the fingerprint sensor next to the camera module at the back. To say that the decision wasn’t well-received would be an understatement, as the position of the sensor make it awkward to reach for most users.

Thankfully, Samsung has rectified the problem with the A8+. The fingerprint sensor is still located at the back, but it’s now placed below the camera module, so there’s less chance of smudging the camera lens when you’re looking to unlock the phone. The sensor isn’t as easy to access as other phones — I prefer the position of the OnePlus 5T’s sensor — but you can at least locate it with your finger.

It’s not quite at the position where your finger naturally rests at the back of the device, but it is significantly better than that of the S8+ and Note 8. There’s also a face recognition feature, which isn’t the same as iris scanning on the S8+ and Note 8. The feature works as long as there’s adequate light, but it isn’t very reliable. For now, the fingerprint sensor is still the most secure method to safeguard your device, and I’m just glad the sensor is at an accessible location on the A8+.

Performance

The Galaxy A8+ is powered by Samsung’s latest Exynos 7885 Octa chipset, which has two high-performance Cortex A73 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six Cortex A53 cores at 1.6GHz. The phone is no slouch, but there were times when I noticed the odd stutter when navigating the interface. A lot of that has to do with Samsung’s UI, and a recent update with stability tweaks addressed most of these issues.

That said, the A8+ is lacking in grunt when seen next to the likes of the OnePlus 5T and the Mi Mix 2, its main competitors in this category. The sheer performance of the Snapdragon 835 combined with the optimized OxygenOS is no match for the Exynos 7885 and the latest version of Samsung Experience. However, you’ll only notice the difference when using both devices next to one another, and in regular everyday usage the A8+ does just fine.

The A8+ isn’t the fastest phone around, but it gets the job done.

It’s certainly not the fastest device in this segment, but Samsung isn’t targeting enthusiasts — the manufacturer is instead going after those looking for a phone with a design aesthetic similar to the S8+ and Note 8 for half the price. And in that context, the A8+ does very well indeed.

The variant sold in India features 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, but there’s also a version with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. As for battery life, the 3500mAh battery managed to easily last a day without breaking a sweat, and I easily saw screen-on-time of four hours on average.

Galaxy A8+ Software

For a device releasing in January 2018, it’s inexcusable that the A8+ comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. It’s possible that Samsung is saving the Oreo build for the Galaxy S9, which is set to make its debut on February 26. As a result, what we have with the A8+ is a software experience that should be immediately familiar if you’ve used a Samsung device in 2017.

And considering just how long it takes Samsung to roll out an update, it’s entirely likely the Oreo update won’t be available for the device until the next quarter (if not longer). Samsung has to contend with hundreds of regional variants and carrier models when it comes to platform updates, so it’s understandable that they take time.

But there’s nothing stopping the company from launching a new device with the latest version of Android, particularly when you consider that the first developer build for Oreo rolled out over ten months ago.

If you were looking to use Oreo out of the box, get ready to be disappointed.

Much like Samsung’s flagships, the Samsung Experience skin on the A8+ is loaded to the gills with features. For its part, Samsung has made it easier to uninstall or disable pre-installed apps that you’re not going to use, and there are enough customization options to keep you busy for a few hours.

At this point, it’s safe to assume that Samsung will put Bixby into most products it makes, and for the most part it’s easy to ignore the assistant completely. Thankfully, there isn’t a dedicated hardware button to invoke Bixby, and you can disable the service. Other features include a dual messenger mode that lets you run two instances of an app simultaneously, swipe gestures for the fingerprint sensor, blue light filter, access to hundreds of themes, one-handed mode and Game Launcher, and a split-screen multitasking mode.

Galaxy A8+ Camera

The highlight with the Galaxy A8+ is the dual 16MP + 8MP front cameras, a first for a Samsung device. Phones with high-resolution front cameras are all the rage in India, and Samsung is setting its sights on that audience with the A8+. The main goal with the secondary camera is to enable Live Focus, the feature that made its debut a few months ago on the Note 8.

Live Focus lets you create a background blur effect, and while the feature was available in the rear camera on the Note 8, you can use it for selfies with the A8+. The feature certainly works as advertised, and you can also adjust the intensity of the blur after the fact.

Coming to the rear camera, the good news is that the module doesn’t protrude from the body of the phone. What’s not so great is that it doesn’t have OIS. Image quality is decent, with the camera able to take great photos in daylight conditions. Things aren’t so rosy when it comes to low-light shooting, as the camera starts to struggle when focusing on subjects. There’s also a lot of noise in images taken under less than ideal lighting conditions, and more often than not the software algorithm is far too aggressive with smoothing out the edges.

Galaxy A8+ Bottom line

The Galaxy A8+ is a viable alternative in the affordable flagship category, and that’s a testament to how far the Galaxy A series has come in just a few generations. Samsung has managed to port several features from its Galaxy S lineup to the mid-range segment — including the 18.5:9 display form factor and Samsung Pay — while introducing new ones in the form of the dual front cameras.

The dual front cameras certainly make the device alluring to a younger audience, with Live Focus making a tangible difference to shots. The 3500mAh battery is more than enough to last a day even on heavy use, and you get most software features that are present on the Galaxy S8.

And while the Snapdragon 835 beats out the Exynos 7885, you don’t necessarily notice any difference in day-to-day use. Overall, the A8+ brings the best of the Galaxy S series at a price point that makes it much more accessible to a wider audience. Right now, the phone is limited to India and South Korea, but that should change in the coming months.

Should you buy it? No

Aside from the fact that it runs Nougat out of the box, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the Galaxy A8+. In fact, it’s clear that the A8+ is the best device in the Galaxy A series thus far. However, while the South Korean manufacturer was perfecting its model for an affordable flagship, other brands haven’t been idle.

The Galaxy A8+ retails for ₹32,999 ($520) in India, putting it squarely in the crosshairs of the OnePlus 5T, which costs exactly the same. The Mi Mix 2 is also on sale for the same price, so there certainly isn’t a dearth of choice here.

The Galaxy A8+ is good — just not as good as other devices in this category.

There are areas where the A8+ wins out — IP68 certification, front cameras, and Samsung Pay — but it is outmatched by the gorgeous ceramic design of the Mi Mix 2 and the sheer performance of the OnePlus 5T. Both of these phones offer more value for your money, and are generally more exciting to use. Samsung doesn’t really have a lot going for it other than brand cachet

If you are insistent on buying a Samsung phone, there may be other options available in this segment. With the Galaxy S9 on the horizon, the S8 and S8+ are bound to come down in price, making them a much more attractive option. The S8 is already going for as low as ₹45,900 ($720) after factoring in the cashback, and the phone should be available for under ₹40,000 in a few months’ time.

See at Samsung

Volvo’s first EV will be a hatchback shooting for 310-mile range

In May 2016, when Volvo showed off the concept that previewed the XC40, it also unveiled a hatchback sedan called Concept 40.2. Later in the year, it announced it would electrify every model and introduce full EVs. Now, a report from Autocar claims that Volvo’s first all-electric vehicle will be a standalone model based on Concept 40.2, and will arrive in 2019.

The car, which will use Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, will also borrow the 40-series nomenclature. Volvo R&D head Henrik Green told Autocar that the new EV will have a target range of about 310 miles, considerably more than the concept’s 217-mile driving range. “It feels like every month we are updating the requirement,” said Green, “trying to add new competitive edges to the car because the technology is moving so fast now on a lot of areas, so it’s much more of a moving target.”

Volvo will offer modular batteries with different ranges, along with different electric motors, to offer customers versions at different price points. “The goal is to address the broader population with cost-efficient solutions and then address a more premium segment with more motor power and longer range,” Green said.

While the first Volvo EV will stand alone as its own model, the second all-electric offering from the Swedish brand could be a battery-powered XC40.

Related Video:

Source: Autocar

Google completes its $1.1 billion HTC deal

Google’s billion-dollar deal to acquire a part of HTC (along with a non-exclusive license for its intellectual property) is done. The two companies announced its completion tonight, and the details appear to be the same as originally announced. While the team behind the Pixel phones is joining Google, HTC says it will continue to make its own-brand mobile device while using its Vive products to compete in VR as well as innovating in AI, AR and IoT technology.

Netflix renews ‘Fuller House’ for fourth season

Netflix may be have ushered in the era of streaming, but it is not a completely benevolent savior. Though Netflix does giveth, it also cancels away the underperforming. So the throwback sequel series Fuller House must be doing something right, because the streaming company just renewed it for a fourth season.

Viewers can look forward to the whole adult gang (Danny, Joey, Jesse and Rebecca) moving back to San Francisco to be there for Kimmy’s pregnancy. (Spoilers?) No word yet on when the fourth season will be added, so stay tuned.

Via: Deadline

Source: TVLine

What’s on TV: ‘Altered Carbon,’ ‘Super Bowl LII’ and ‘UFC 3’

This week the Super Bowl dominates the weekend, but before the game kicks off we’ll be watching Netflix’s next big sci-fi show, Altered Carbon. It’s a mystery series where a dead-for-centuries detective has been resurrected to investigate a murder. On NBC The Good Place is wrapping up its second season, on Friday the podcast 2 Dope Queens makes its debut as an HBO special and gamers can try out the third iteration of EA’s UFC game. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Roman J. Israel, Esq. (VOD)
• Wonder (VOD)
• Class of 1999
• Gothic
• Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
• Victoria (S2)
• Westfront 1918 (Criterion)
• Kameradschaft (Criterion)
• Rendel: Dark Vengeance
• Asemblance (Xbox One)
• Call of Duty: WWII – The Resisistance DLC (PS4)
• Candleman (PC)
• Feral Fury (PS4)
• Timothy vs. the Aliens (PS4)
• Briks 2 (PS4)
• Railway Empire (Xbox One)
• Wulverblade (Xbox One, PS4)
• Cold Iron (PS VR)
• EA Sports UFC 3 (Xbox One, PS4 – 2/2)

Monday

• May it Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, HBO, 8 PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8 PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 8 PM
• Supergirl, CW, 8 PM
• The Wall, NBC, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• Man With A Plan, CBS, 8:30 PM
• The Alienist, TNT, 9 PM
• The Resident, Fox, 9 PM
• Valor (season finale), CW, 9 PM
• Superior Donuts, CBS, 9 PM
• 9jkl, CBS, 9:30 PM
• The Brave (season finale), NBC, 10 PM
• Scorpion, CBS, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• Babylon Berlin (S1 & S2), Netflix, 3 AM
• Retribution (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Ellen’s Game of Games, NBC, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• The Flash, CW, 8 PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8 PM
• Super Bowl Greatest Commercials 2018, CBS, 8 PM
• We’ll Meet Again: Rescued from Mt. St. Helens, PBS, 8 PM
• Fresh Off the Boar, ABC, 8:30 PM
• Black Lightning, CW, 9 PM
• Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9 PM
• Inside West Coast Customs, Velocity, 9 PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9 PM
• Baskets, FX, 10 PM
• Drunk History, Comedy Central, 10 PM
• Bellevue, WGN, 10 PM
• The Quad, BET, 10 PM
• Undercover High, A&E, 10 PM
• Hate Thy Neighbor, Viceland, 10 PM
• The Detour, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Another Period, Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3 AM
• The Amazing Race, CBS, 8 PM
• Riverdale, CW, 8 PM
• The X-Files, Fox, 8 PM
• The Librarians, TNT, 8 PM
• Grown-ish, Freeform, 8 PM
• Alone Together, Freeform, 8:30 PM
• Dynasty, CW, 9 PM
• 9-1-1, Fox, 9 PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9 PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9 PM
• Seal Team, CBS, 9 PM
• American Housewife, ABC, 9:30 PM
• Angela Rye’s State of the Union, BET, 10 PM
• American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, 10 PM
• Slutever, Viceland, 10 PM
• Corporate, Comedy Central, 10 PM
• Happy! (season finale), Syfy, 10 PM
• Knightfall, History, 10 PM
• Match Game, ABC, 10 PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 10 PM
• Waco, Paramount, 10 PM
• Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (season finale), TBS, 10:30 PM
• Trixie & Katya Show, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• The Four, Fox, 8 PM
• The Big Bang Theory CBS, 8 PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8 PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8 PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8 PM
• The Good Place (season finale), NBC, 8:30 PM
• 30 for 30: The Two Bills, ESPN, 9 PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9 PM
• Arrow, CW, 9 PM
• Van Helsing, Syfy, 9 PM
• Will & Grace, NBC, 9 PM
• Mom, CBS, 9 PM
• A.P. Bio (pilot), NBC, 9:30 PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10 PM
• Black Card Revoked, BET, 10 PM
• Lip Sync Battle, Paramount, 10 PM
• S.W.A.T., CBS, 10 PM
• Thursday Night Darts (series premiere), BBC America, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• The Rundown with Robin Thede, BET, 11 PM

Friday

• The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Absentia (S1), Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Altered Carbon (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Coach Snoop (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Breathe, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Fly Guys (series premiere), Facebook, 3 AM
• Luna Petunia (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Kavin Jay: Everybody Calm Down!, Netflix, 3 AM
• On Body and Soul, Netflix, 3 AM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8 PM
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW, 8 PM
• Child Support, ABC, 8 PM
• Jane the Virgin, CW, 9 PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9 PM
• Taken, NBC, 9 PM
• The Trade (series premiere), Showtime, 9 PM
• Strike Back (season premiere), Cinemax, 10 PM
• The Timeline (season finale), NFL Network, 10 PM
• High Maintenance, HBO, 11 PM
• 2 Dope Queens: Jon Stewart (series premiere), HBO, 11:30 PM

Saturday

• The Simone Biles Story, Lifetime, 8 PM
• NFL Honors, NBC, 9 PM
• Planet Earth: Blue Planet II, BBC America, 9 PM
• Conan Without Borders: Haiti, TBS, 10 PM
• SNL: Natalie Portman / Dua Lipa, NBC, 11:30 PM

Sunday

• Super Bowl LII: Eagles vs. Patriots, NBC, 6 PM
• Star Trek: Discovery, CBS All Access, 8:30 PM
• Counterpart, Starz, 8 PM
• Victoria, PBS, 9 PM
• After Trek, CBS All Access, 9:30 PM
• This is Us, NBC, 10:15 PM (after Super Bowl)
• Divorce, HBO, 10 PM
• Crashing, HBO, 10:30 PM

[All times listed are in ET]

Faraday Future lawsuit claims former exec stole trade secrets

Faraday Future’s executive exodus last fall was bad enough, but the departure of one exec may have been particularly troublesome. The electric car startup has filed a lawsuit alleging that former CFO Stefan Krause stole trade secrets and poached staff as he left to form a startup, Evelozcity. Reportedly, Krause was quietly working at both Faraday and Evelozcity for weeks before he was formally let go, and encouraged staff to not only leave, but take secret info on the way out. Faraday had announced Krause’s exit in November over “possible violations of law,” and now it’s clear what those might be.

The company went on to accuse others of similar theft. Former vehicle manufacturing head Bill Strickland supposedly took “thousands” of documents, while staffers Christoph Kuttner and Sohel Merchant may have taken files as well. None of them have been named in the lawsuit, however.

Whether or not that’s how things happened isn’t clear. Faraday believed that Krause asked the company’s human resources director to backdate his resignation to cover up his plans, but The Verge sources understand that Krause resigned in October. It also doesn’t gel with Faraday’s assertion that Krause was fired.

This isn’t the first time Faraday has taken legal action against would-be rivals (it sent a cease-and-desist notice to Indi EV over similar allegations), but it may be the most serious. It also underscores the loyalty issues the company has had for months. Its financial uncertainty and shrinking ambitions haven’t exactly inspired confidence, and a cash infusion in late 2017 came only after it had lost hundreds of employees. These kinds of lawsuits might be less likely going forward, but it’s notable that they happened at all.

Source: The Verge