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25 Jan 2025

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X 'refused to take down video' viewed by Southport killer
Australia's internet regulator said X was the only major tech platform which refused its request.

Putricia the putrid corpse flower at Sydney Botanic Garden basks in internet fame
Almost 20,000 disgusted fans have lined up to catch a putrid whiff of Putricia, the rare stinky corpse flower which unfurled in the Sydney Botanic Garden this week and bloomed in the hearts of thousands of people online.

Samsung’s fast, compact USB-C flash drive is just $18 right now
Having a fast flash drive on hand can save you the pain of transferring files over slow Wi-Fi. In fact, it allows you to bypass the need for an internet connection altogether. It just so happens that one of our favorites — Samsung’s Type-C Flash Drive — is on sale right now, with the 128GB model available for a mere $18 on Amazon. Besides the fact that this modern flash drive is a total steal at this price, this particular flash drive is awesome because, as the name suggests, it has a USB-C connection. That means it’s so easy to back up data from smartphones, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, and more. The Samsung Type-C Flash Drive is tiny, too, making it easy to throw into a pocket or purse and take with you anywhere. It’s also built with protection against most dangers, including water, dust, shocks, magnets, extreme temperatures, and X-rays. With its 400MB/s read speeds, you can transfer massive files to your thumb drive in no time, including those extra-large 4K videos. Get your very own compact USB-C flash drive for just $18 on Amazon while this deal lasts. If 128GB is too little for you, the 256GB model is also on sale (for just $27, was $35). Samsung's USB-C flash drive is the best $18 you'll spend this weekBuy now at Amazon

Vivaldi 7.1 sets its sync sights on tabs
Vivaldi has taken another slow step toward providing better sync options for users with the ability to push a tab to another device, plus a new weather widget in Vivaldi 7.1. The update also adds new default search engines — Startpage, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, and Qwant — as well as the options to adjust the background themes as well as the web widgets. Many of us at PCWorld like Vivaldi, and switched to it a while back. But Vivaldi’s sync services have been an issue — with a cloud outage cutting access to Vivaldi sync services for days last December, and a more substantial problem: that one configuration of Vivaldi on one browser can’t easily be reproduced on another. Vivaldi appears to be avoiding the issue by asking you to do the legwork. On one hand, Vivaldi 7.1 does include a new sync feature: Send Tab to Device allows you to instantly share tabs to other devices that are logged in to Vivaldi. That feature doesn’t appear to happen automatically, however, and it’s limited to Vivaldi browsers on PCs. Syncing to the mobile version of Vivaldi will arrive on January 30, Vivaldi said. Otherwise, Vivaldi’s method of avoiding true syncing is to ask you to “export” features from Vivaldi’s browser. Import Open Tabs is a new feature that allows the Vivaldi browser to slurp up your open tabs that are running on a different browser, like Chrome or Edge. Vivaldi than opens them in its own browser framework, with the idea that you’ll shut down the other browser and continue work on Vivaldi instead. Finally, the new version adds a weather widget, which takes Vivaldi’s useful sidebar (where you can access web-based email and a list of RSS feeds, for example) and adds local weather to it. This does seem a bit on the superficial side, as most Windows 11 PCs hide a weather widget down in the corner of the screen. However, you can also look up weather in foreign cities, something that Windows’ own weather widget isn’t really designed to do. The new VIvaldi 7.1 update is available today.

Can you live without Netflix? Here’s how to find out
Netflix is metaphorically flexing its muscles and spiking the football this week, announcing both record fourth-quarter subscriber gains and price hikes for nearly every one of its plans. In other words, the streaming giant has you right where it wants you. It’s the world’s most popular paid streaming service, with cancellation rates well below industry averages. Its crackdown on password sharing has been a resounding success, and its foray into ad-supported streaming is boosting revenues. As it dumps money into more expensive sports programming—like those Christmas NFL games—it’s confident you’ll help pay the bill. Hence the price hikes: The Standard with Ads plan is now $8 per month, up from $7. The Standard no-ads plan is now $17 per month, up from $15.49. And the Premium plan with 4K video is now $25 per month, up from $23. The only plan that isn’t increasing is the optional $7 surcharge for adding an authorized password sharer to your account. What can you do about it? While Netflix believes most everyone will stay put, price hikes are always a fine time to reevaluate the value of a subscription. Here are some pointers: Check your watch history Netflix’s website contains a list of everything you’ve watched. To find it, log into your account, click the profile icon, select “Manage profiles,” choose a profile, then select “Viewing activity.” (If you’re signed in, you can also visit netflix.com/settings/viewed.) Jared Newman / Foundry Look through everything you’ve watched in the past few months or so. How often do you use Netflix, and how many shows have you thoroughly enjoyed? Are there enough of them to justify keeping Netflix year-round, or could you take some time off and allocate that viewing to other services with shows you’ve been meaning to watch? Look elsewhere for favorites Netflix mostly traffics in exclusive content, and the shows that bring in new subscribers tend to be the ones you can’t find elsewhere. But some of the staples keeping you onboard might not be exclusive to Netflix. Suits, for instance, became a Netflix hit, but debuted on USA Network and is available in full on Peacock (which you can currently get free for three months). My kids are currently binge-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, which also streams on Paramount+ (obtainable for free as well). And while Netflix has the exclusive streaming rights to Seinfeld, it’s also a staple on free over-the-air TV, which you can watch with an antenna (and even record for later). Netflix also licenses a bunch of HBO shows that remain available on Max. I’m cherry-picking here, and I realize a lot of shows become popular because they’re on Netflix—not the other way around—but it’s worth looking at some of your favorites on a site like Reelgood to see where else they’re available, if at all. Consider your family Dropping Netflix might be easier if you’re on your own, but I know it’d be a tough sell in the Newman household, where my wife and kids make more extensive use of it. You might want to have others in your home consult their own watchlists before making any rash decisions. The good news is that you no longer need to account for people outside of your home. With Netflix having banned password sharing—at least without paying an extra toll—the service isn’t quite as sticky as it used to be. Look at some free alternatives If Netflix for you is mainly something to put on in the background while doing other things, there are lots of free streaming services to fill that void. Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, the Roku Channel, and many others offer vast catalogs of free movies and shows, with linear channels you can flip through. The free tiers of Sling TV and Philo even include a DVR, so you can record shows and skip the ads. Just try cancelling Jared Newman / Foundry The easiest way to tell whether Netflix is worth keeping is to try going without it for a while. All it takes is a trip to Netflix’s membership page and a click of the cancellation button (plus another click to confirm). There’s no penalty for cancelling a Netflix subscription, nor are there any rewards for continued loyalty. When you cancel, Netflix keeps your account info on file for 10 months, so your watchlist, recommendations, and viewing history will still be waiting if you resubscribe anytime before then. If you can’t quit Netflix has a unique gravitational pull in the streaming world, so it’s understandable if you can’t break away, but at least consider some ways to defray the cost: If you’re mostly keeping Netflix for your children, consider downgrading to the ad-supported tier. Kids profiles don’t have ads. Netflix’s ad-supported tier is included for free with some T-Mobile postpaid plans, including all of its current “Go5G” offerings. According to TMo report, customers who upgrade to an ad-free tier will still get a $7-per-month credit (which means the price hikes will still apply). Verizon offers a $10-per-month bundle of Netflix and Max (both with ads) with certain mobile and home internet plans. You can upgrade to ad-free Netflix by paying the difference in price. Comcast offers a $15-per-month bundle of Netflix (with ads), Apple TV+, and Peacock (with ads) for customers with Xfinity home internet or TV. You can also look for savings on other streaming services or consider cancelling some of them instead. In the end, Netflix seems pretty confident that’s the path its subscribers will take. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice.