☑️ Check, please

Twitter's blue checkmarks might soon carry a fee

October 31, 2022

IN THIS ISSUE ☑️ Twitter may charge its verified users 💻 Apple's new Macs may be a while ✨ The beauty of colliding galaxies 🚀 Watch SpaceX's big rocket launch

SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter could start charging verified users a monthly fee Reports suggest the fee might be as much as $20 per month Several reports dropped on Sunday that suggest new Twitter owner Elon Musk is wasting little time in stamping his authority on the social media platform.   Insiders are claiming Twitter will soon start charging anywhere between $5 and $20 to verified users who want to retain the blue check mark that signifies the status.   The fee could be tied to Twitter Blue, the premium version of the app that offers extra features. Twitter Blue currently costs $5 a month, but Saturday's news suggests it could be increased to as much as $20. Whether anyone will actually be prepared to pay that much is another question entirely.   Twitter could announce the changes to verification in the coming days.   In reported comments earlier this year, Musk described how he wanted to use subscriptions to boost the company's bottom line, along with revenue from ads. Read more

APPLE Apple's new Mac lineup won't be unveiled until next year Apple's new M2 Macs will most likely arrive in 2023 Reports from respected Apple analyst Mark Gurman suggest the tech giant won't be launching any new Mac computers until next year.   It had been hoped the tech giant would unveil upgraded models – including M2-based versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, as well as an M2 Mac Mini – in November, ready for the holiday season. But Gurman suggests that customers interested in the new machines will have to wait until the first quarter of 2023 to see the updated kit.   The long-awaited new Mac Pro, the first to feature Apple Silicon, should also land next year. So if you're in the market for a new laptop and have your eye on a Mac, it might make sense to hold off for a couple months before making your purchase. Read more

DEEP SPACE A massive galactic collision The epic merger is happening 270 million light-years away The James Webb Space Telescope continues to work its magic, recently beaming to Earth a stunning infrared image showing a pair of galaxies that are currently merging.   The event, which is taking place 270 million light-years from Earth, shows galaxies IC 1623 A and B.   "The two galaxies in IC 1623 are plunging headlong into one another in a process known as a galaxy merger," the Webb team said, adding that the collision has ignited a "frenzied spate of star formation known as a starburst, creating new stars at a rate more than twenty times that of the Milky Way galaxy."   The icing on the cake is that the merging galaxies may also be in the process of forming a supermassive black hole, the scientists said. Read more

ROCKET LAUNCHES Watch SpaceX's big rocket launch The Falcon Heavy is the world's most powerful operational rocket SpaceX is currently targeting 9:40 a.m. ET (6:40 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, November 1, for the launch of the Falcon Heavy from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida   The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in operation today and this will be its fourth mission since its maiden flight in 2018.   The rocket comprises SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 as the core booster with two additional Falcon 9 boosters attached, enabling it to generate 5 million pounds of thrust at launch, equivalent to around 18 Boeing 747 aircraft.   The mission will deploy two classified satellites for the U.S. Space Force, and SpaceX is expected to livestream the launch – as well as the landing of the two boosters – on its YouTube channel. Read more

STAFF PICKS We highly recommend...

Every Tool's a Hammer Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) wrote a book a few years ago, and it's an absolutely fantastic treatise on creativity, productivity, and mastering your craft -- no matter what that craft might be. I can't recommend it enough. It's stuffed with little tips and tricks that Savage picked up during his long and illustrious career as a maker -- and many of those tricks continue to live rent-free in my brain 3 years later. - Drew Prindle Senior Editor

A rare demolition video from NASA NASA is normally concerned with blasting rockets to space, but on Saturday it focused on blasting a former administrative headquarters to smithereens. The space agency demolished Building 4200 at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, about 130 miles northwest of Atlanta. The YouTube channel for the Marshall Space Flight Center livestreamed the demolition in which multiple controlled explosions razed the structure in a matter of seconds -- and you should totally check it out. - Trevor Mogg Contributing Editor

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