Technology

Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2024

Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

So, you’ve finally decided to give Bluesky a shot. The social network has come a long way since the early bare-bones days of invite-only signups and recently grew past the 15 million user mark. Along the way, it’s gathered a lot of familiar posting platform features, like direct messages, pinned posts, and the ability to post videos up to 60 seconds in length.

But there’s a lot more to it than that, and I’m not only talking about lore. (Yes, Bluesky has lore, and that’s probably the most classic Twitter thing about it.) It’s also got a number of features and settings you won’t find on X or Threads, like the ability to choose your own algorithm or moderation tools. These serve not just as a fast lane to getting the platform to feel lively but can also create the feeling that you, the user, are in control of your experience.

Here’s a primer on getting up to speed on Bluesky.

Some basics

Bluesky’s Following feed is a simple chronological feed of posts from people you follow. But you can also customize whether it shows replies, reposts, quote posts, and / or samples from your custom feeds — setting all of these to “off” means your Following feed will only display posts from people you follow. You’ll find these options in Settings > Following Feed Preferences.

The platform also lets you decide how you’d like to see reply threads by going to Settings > Thread Preferences. Here, you can sort by oldest, newest, most-liked replies, or have them randomly sorted. (Bluesky also calls this “Poster’s Roulette.”) There’s an option to prioritize people you follow in a reply thread as well as an experimental Threaded Mode option for showing replies as Reddit-like nested threads.

Custom algorithmic feeds

Bluesky’s custom algorithmic feeds are a great way to get started without following anyone at all.

Screenshot: Bluesky

While Bluesky offers two algorithmic feeds to start — “Discover” and “Popular With Friends” — things start to get a lot more fun when you get into custom feeds. Bluesky itself has made some, but most of the custom feeds are user-created.

These feeds are powerful, making it easy to find people who share your interests, see only certain types of content, or sort through your own posts. Want a feed of cat pictures? You got it. Interested in seeing which of your posts has done the best? You’ll want the “My Bangers” feed.

To check out the custom feeds:

Tap the three lines icon in the upper left to summon the sidebar.
In the sidebar, select Feeds.
Search for a feed or scroll through them to pick the ones you like.
Click or tap on individual feeds to preview them.
To follow a feed from the Feeds page, click on the individual feed, select the three dots in the upper corner, and then select Save to my feeds. It will now appear at the top of your Feeds list.
To follow a feed from Bluesky’s homescreen, tap Pin to Home at the top. Now, it will appear as a tab at the top of that screen.

Starter Packs

Oh look, a Verge Starter Pack.

Screenshot: The Verge staff Starter Pack

Another easy way to find Bluesky accounts to follow is Starter Packs. These are prepackaged lists of accounts, often chosen around a theme. Bluesky’s team has made some of these, but there are also thousands of user-made lists containing accounts that often post about specific topics or are part of certain groups. (The Verge even has one; you can find it right here.)

Bluesky hasn’t made Starter Packs searchable yet, so the only way you’ll find them is by searching outside of the platform (I like this directory), spotting them when they’re posted by other users, or having them sent to you. Once you find a Starter Pack you like, just click the Follow all button at the top of the screen to, you know, follow all of them, or select the Follow button by individual accounts if you’re feeling choosy.

And if you want to create your own Starter Pack, it isn’t difficult: Bluesky has directions right here.

Custom domains

I finally figured out what to do with that domain name I bought last year.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Like Mastodon, Bluesky is a federated platform, except it uses AT Protocol instead of ActivityPub. As such, you can pick your own domain name suffix for your handle. You’ll need to either own that domain or get it from another service, such as Threads. A word of warning, though: once you’ve done this, your handle / domain name combo is now free for someone else to take. (Bluesky says that “any tags or mentions with your old handle will still point to your account,” though.)

Use the “Change my handle” feature to switch to a custom domain.

Screenshot: Bluesky

To switch to a custom domain:

Select Settings > Change Handle.
Choose I have my own domain.
Enter your domain, and select Copy Domain Value, which copies the string of text at the end of the record.
Navigate to your domain registrar (the company you bought the domain from) and find an option labeled Manage DNS or similar.

Here’s what adding a new record would look like in GoDaddy’s DNS management screen.

Screenshot: GoDaddy DNS management

Add a TXT record and enter the record information you gathered from Bluesky. Note: this process differs between domain name providers, so you may need to look up instructions, such as the ones I’ve linked here for popular registrars GoDaddy and Squarespace.
Once you’ve saved the record, wait a few minutes, go back to Bluesky, and select Verify DNS Record. A green banner in the Change Handle box will appear to let you know you succeeded.

Pinned posts

Like X and Threads, you can pin posts to the top of your account. Here’s how:

Navigate to the post you want to pin.
Select the three dots beneath the post.
Select Pin to your profile.

Labelers

The Bears still suck.

Screenshot: Bluesky NFL Team Labeler

Bluesky’s moderation is buttressed by Labelers, which are third-party services that can tag accounts or content, either for informational purposes or for moderation. The tags are wide-ranging and can be used to hide things like posts with GIFs, crypto scammer accounts, brand accounts, or phobia triggers.

It goes far beyond that, though. Some use it as a convenient way to display or view pronouns, find fans of their favorite sports teams, and even play text-based games through Labelers like this TTRPG one. Each one differs in its use and usually offers instructions for using it. Also, Bluesky doesn’t currently have a built-in way to find Labelers, but there are lists and tools for that.

To use a Labeler once you’ve found one you like:

Navigate to its Bluesky page.
Select Subscribe to Labeler.

If it has a list of labels to customize, pick an option for each:
Off: to keep the label off.
Show badge: to see the label when applied to content or accounts.
Hide: to hide content or accounts with that label.

If you decide you want to change those selections later, you can do so by going to Settings > Moderation and selecting the Labeler from the Advanced section.

App Passwords

The App Passwords screen in Bluesky.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Bluesky lets you create passwords for other apps to use. This is helpful if you like to use apps — like third-party client Graysky — that take advantage of the Bluesky API but don’t want to give them your permanent password. Here’s how you can do that.

Navigate to Settings > App Passwords (Under Advanced).
Select Add App Password.
Enter a name for the password or use the one Bluesky generates.
If you want to let the app use direct messaging, tick the Allow access to your direct messages box. Note: you can’t change this option later; you can only delete the password and create a new one for that app.
Select Create App Password.

Technology

This magazine plays Tetris — here’s how

Published

4 hours ago

February 22, 2026

Press Room

Tetris has been immortalized in a playable McDonald’s plastic chicken nugget, a playable fake 7-Eleven Slurpee cup, and a playable wristwatch. But the most intriguing way to play Tetris yet is encased in paper.

Last year the Tetris Company partnered with Red Bull for a gaming tournament that culminated in the 150-meter-tall Dubai Frame landmark being turned into the world’s largest playable Tetris installation using over 2,000 drones that functioned as pixels. Although the timing was a coincidence, Red Bull also published a 180-page gaming edition of its The Red Bulletin lifestyle magazine around the same time as the event, with a limited number of copies wrapped in a less grandiose, but no less technically impressive, version of Alexey Pajitnov’s iconic puzzle game.

To create a playable gaming magazine, Red Bull Media House (the company’s media wing) enlisted the help of Kevin Bates, who in 2014 wowed the internet by creating an ultra-thin Tetris-playing business card. In 2015, he launched the $39 Arduboy, a credit card-sized, open-source handheld that attracted a thriving community of developers. Over the course of a decade, Bates also created a pair of equally pocketable Tetris-playing handhelds that cost less than $30, and the shrunken-down USB-C Arduboy Mini.

The GamePop GP-1 Playable Magazine System (as it’s officially called) is the latest evolution of Bates’ mission to use existing, accessible, and affordable technologies to reimagine what a portable gaming device can be. It took “most of last year” to develop, Bates revealed during a call with The Verge. He wouldn’t divulge the exact details of how his collaboration with Red Bull came to be. But if you’re looking to make an officially licensed version of Tetris that’s thin enough to flex, Bates has the experience, and he shared with us some of the technical details that make this creation work.

The game’s screen is made up of 180 tiny RGB LEDs on a custom circuit board that can flex and bend.

While OLED display technology has given us tablet-sized devices that fold into smartphones, they’re still expensive and fragile. To make a display that can survive being embedded in a flexible magazine cover without reinforcement, Bates created a custom matrix of 180 2mm RGB LEDs mounted to a flexible circuit board just 0.1mm thick. While the display and coin-cell batteries make it thicker in a few places — nearly 5mm at its thickest point — you genuinely feel like you’re playing a handheld made of paper. The flexible circuits are bonded between two sheets of paper to create the sleeve that wraps around the book-sized magazine, and it feels satisfyingly thin and flexible.

Flexible circuits aren’t a new idea. They’ve been used in electronics for decades. You can find them in flip phones old enough they now feel like antiques, and nearly every laptop. They’re also frequently used to miniaturize devices that don’t fold or flex at all, connecting internal components where space is extremely limited. But it’s only in the past five or six years that the technology has become available to smaller makers, and Bates says he’s been “messing around with the flexible circuits for about as much time.” This collaboration was an opportunity to use what he’s learned to create a device that would live outside his workshop.

The GamePop GP-1’s display resolution pales in comparison to the OLED screens used in folding phones, but Bates’ creation is far more durable. The game has not only undergone the typical safety tests, but Bates even “hit it with a hammer a few times” to test its durability. His display survived, but don’t try that with a folding phone. They’re still far less durable.

The front cover of the Red Bull GamePop magazine.

To keep it as thin as possible, the Tetris game uses embedded touch sensors instead of physical buttons.

Instead of buttons, the game uses seven capacitive touch sensors that are directly “printed in the copper layer of the board,” Bates says. There’s no true mechanical feedback when pressed, but the paper’s flex helps them feel a bit like a button when you press down. Bates says the responsiveness of the sensors was specifically tuned to account for the thickness of the paper stock and the glues used in the final print run. You’re not going to be chasing Tetris world records on the cover of a magazine, but the controls are satisfyingly responsive and the game is surprisingly much easier to play than other Tetris devices I’ve tested.

The Red Bull magazine’s cover illuminated from behind revealing some of its internal components.

Most of the game is made using flexible electronics, but there is a thin rigid PCB housing its processor and rechargeable batteries.

How much does a flexible Tetris game cost to manufacture? Neither Bates nor Red Bull would divulge the total price tag for all the off-the-shelf and custom components you’ll find sandwiched inside the magazine’s cover. But to help keep costs down, not all components are flexible. Inside the edge of the cover, next to the magazine’s spine, you’ll find a long but thin rigid PCB where an ARM-based 32-bit microprocessor is located, along with four rechargeable LIR2016 3V coin cell batteries.

A close-up of a USB-C cable plugged into a charging port on the bottom of a magazine cover.

The magazine features a deconstructed USB-C charging port along the bottom edge of its cover.

Like most devices now, the game can be recharged using a USB-C cable, but it’s not immediately obvious where. Hidden along the bottom edge of the magazine’s cover is a deconstructed USB-C port. Instead of a metal ring, its socket is a small paper pocket containing a pin-covered head inside. It doesn’t feel quite as durable as the charging port on your phone, but it’s a welcome alternative to making the game disposable when the batteries die.

Bates did have to cut some corners. The GamePop GP-1 saves high scores, but modern Tetris gameplay features, like previews of upcoming pieces and being able to save tetrominoes for later, aren’t included. There’s sound effects, but when starting a game you only hear a small snippet of the iconic Tetris theme. The game’s piezo speaker “uses about as much energy as it does to run the rest of the system,” Bates says, so this helps prolong the life of the small rechargeable batteries. He tells us you can play for an hour or two that way, and the battery should last many months when not in use.

Red Bull made around 1,000 copies of the magazine. It’s only available online in Europe, but can also be found in some stores and newsstands, including Iconic Magazines in New York and Rare Mags outside Manchester in the UK. However, only 150 copies with the playable cover were produced, and none were made available to the public. They were distributed to Tetris competitors, those featured in the magazine, influencers, and select media.

The playable cover isn’t going to revolutionize the print industry, or pave the way for smartphones we can roll up and stick in our back pockets. The goal was to use existing tech in a way that gamers haven’t seen before.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge

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Andrew Liszewski

Technology

Waymo’s cheaper robotaxi tech could help expand rides fast

Published

4 hours ago

February 22, 2026

Press Room

Waymo’s cheaper robotaxi tech could help expand rides fast

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If you live in cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin or Atlanta, you may have already seen or even taken a ride in a driverless Waymo operating without a human behind the wheel. In newer markets like Miami, service is rolling out, while other cities, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, are part of Waymo’s expansion plans.

For everyone else, not so much. At least not yet. For most of us, that still feels like something happening somewhere else, not something that pulls up when you request a ride.

However, that could start to change very soon. Waymo just unveiled its sixth-generation Waymo Driver hardware, and the headline is simple: it costs less and fits into more vehicles. That combination could help driverless rides reach a lot more cities, faster than you and I might expect.

THE ROBOTAXI PRICE WAR HAS STARTED. HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.

Waymo’s new sixth-generation hardware will first roll out in the Zeekr-built Ojai minivan before expanding to more vehicles and cities. (Waymo)

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Why Waymo’s cheaper robotaxi hardware changes the game

Until recently, if you spotted a Waymo on the road, it was usually a Jaguar I-Pace. Nice car. Not exactly built for a massive robotaxi rollout. The sixth-generation system changes that. The first vehicle to carry the new hardware is the Zeekr-built Ojai electric minivan. Zeekr is owned by Geely. Waymo employees in Los Angeles and San Francisco will begin fully autonomous rides in it soon, with public access expected to follow. In these new deployments, Waymo says the vehicles will operate without safety drivers behind the wheel. After that, the hardware will also power versions of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Here is where this really matters. When Waymo can install the same system across multiple vehicle types and produce it at a lower cost, expansion becomes much easier. The company says it plans to move into 20 additional cities this year and is ramping up its Metro Phoenix facility to build tens of thousands of Driver kits annually.

Waymo says it has shifted more processing power into its own custom silicon chips, allowing it to use fewer cameras while improving performance and reducing overall system cost. More vehicles and lower costs mean one thing: a better chance that driverless rides show up in your city sooner rather than later.

How the Waymo Driver actually sees the road

If you have never been in a robotaxi, this is the part you are probably wondering about. The sixth-generation Waymo Driver uses 16 high-resolution 17 megapixel cameras, short-range lidar, radar and external audio receivers. Waymo says the updated cameras offer improved dynamic range compared to the previous 29-camera setup. That helps the vehicle perform better at night and in bright glare.

Short-range lidar delivers centimeter-level accuracy to detect pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Radar adds another layer of awareness. Waymo says its upgraded imaging radar can track distance, speed and object size even in rain or snow, giving the system more time to react. External audio receivers can detect sirens or trains by sound.

Unlike Tesla, which has emphasized camera-based systems, Waymo relies on multiple overlapping technologies. If one sensor struggles, another can support it. There is also a cleaning system for key sensors. Snow, dirt, or road spray should not easily block visibility.

Waymo says this version is designed to operate in more extreme weather, including heavy winter conditions, which could open the door to colder U.S. cities that were previously harder to support.

The Waymo Driver blends high-resolution cameras, lidar and radar to create a 360-degree view of the road, even at night or in bad weather. (Waymo)

Why you probably haven’t seen a Waymo robotaxi yet

Right now, Waymo has about 1,500 vehicles on the road. That sounds like a lot until you compare it to the millions of cars in the U.S. The company wants to grow that number to around 3,500 this year and eventually into the tens of thousands. Still, service is limited to certain parts of certain cities. If you do not live in one of those areas, you are simply not going to see one.

That is why this new hardware matters. When the system costs less and fits into more vehicles, Waymo can put more cars on the road in more places. This is not about adding flashy features or cool upgrades. It is about getting from a small footprint to something that feels normal in everyday life.

What about safety and past incidents?

Whenever driverless cars expand, safety questions come right with them. Waymo says its system is built with multiple layers of redundancy. The sixth-generation Driver combines cameras, lidar, radar and audio detection so the vehicle is not relying on a single sensor. That layered setup is designed to reduce risk if one system has trouble. The company says this latest system builds on nearly 200 million fully autonomous miles driven across more than 10 major cities, including dense urban cores and freeways.

Even so, incidents have happened. Earlier this year, a Waymo vehicle was involved in an accident that injured a child, which raised fresh concerns about how autonomous vehicles respond in complex real-world situations. Regulators continue to monitor autonomous vehicle performance closely, especially in states like California, where reporting requirements are strict.

WAYMO UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION AFTER CHILD STRUCK

Waymo has also released data suggesting its vehicles experience fewer injury-causing crashes per mile compared to human drivers in similar areas. Supporters argue that reducing human error could improve road safety over time. Critics say expanding too quickly could introduce new risks.

Both things can be true. The technology is advancing, but public trust will depend on transparency, accountability and long-term safety performance.

What this means to you

If Waymo expands into your city, you may soon open a rideshare app and see a new option. No driver. No conversation. Just a vehicle that navigates using software and sensors.

More vehicles could mean shorter wait times in busy areas. Increased competition may also affect pricing in the rideshare market. At the same time, comfort levels vary. Many riders may hesitate before stepping into a car with an empty front seat. This shift is about more than technology. It changes how people commute, travel and move around urban areas.

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With lower costs and broader vehicle compatibility, Waymo hopes to put many more driverless cars on real city streets soon. (Waymo)

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Waymo’s sixth-generation Driver is really about one thing: getting more driverless cars on the road, in more cities, at a lower cost. When the hardware becomes cheaper and easier to install in different vehicles, expansion gets easier. That does not automatically mean everyone will be comfortable hopping in. For many people, sitting in a car with no driver might still feel a bit scary. The technology is moving forward whether we are ready or not. The bigger question is simple: will we feel confident enough to get in?

If you had to choose today, would you book the driverless ride or wait for a human behind the wheel? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Arturia’s FX Collection 6 adds two new effects and a $99 intro version

Published

16 hours ago

February 21, 2026

Press Room

Arturia’s FX Collection 6 adds two new effects and a intro version

Arturia launched a new version of its flagship effects suite, FX Collection, which includes two new plugins, EFX Ambient and Pitch Shifter-910. FX Collection 6 also marks the introduction of an Intro version with a selection of six effects covering the basics for $99. That pales in comparison to the 39 effects in the full FX Collection Pro, but that also costs $499.

Pitch Shifter-910 is based on the iconic Eventide H910 Harmonizer from 1974, an early digital pitchshifter and delay with a very unique character. Arturia does an admirable job preserving its glitchy quirks. Pitch Shifter-910 is not a transparent effect that lets you create natural-sounding harmonies with yourself. Instead, it relishes in its weirdness, delivering chipmunk vocals at the higher ranges. There is also a more modern mode that cleans up some artifacts while preserving what makes the 910 so special. Though if you ask me, it also takes some of the fun and unpredictability out.

EFX Ambient is the other new addition to Arturia’s lineup, and it’s a weird one. While it does what it says on the tin, it doesn’t always do it in predictable ways. Sure, there’s plenty of big ethereal reverbs and shimmer, but there’s also resonators, glitch processing, and reverse delays. It has six distinct modes with unique characteristics, which it feeds through a big washy reverb. And there’s an X/Y control in the middle for adding movement to your sound.

Neither of the brand-new effects made the cut for the Intro version. FX Collection 6 Intro includes Efx Motions, Efx Fragments, Mix Drums, Tape Mello-Fi, Rev Plate-140, and Delay Tape-201. That offers excellent versatility covering delay, reverb, tape-like lo-fi, modulation, and even granular processing. Primarily, what you miss out on are some of the saturation and mixing effects like bus and compression, as well as the more specialty flavors of delay and reverb like Rev LX-24, based on the Lexicon 224 from 1978.

$499 for the full FX Collection 6 Pro might seem steep, but as the company has grown the lineup from 15 effects in 2020 to 39 in 2026, it’s become a more attractive value proposition. And, while it’s not quite as highly regarded as Arturia’s V Collection of soft synths, it’s building a reputation for high-quality effects.