Tax Refunds, E-filing Are Up, State Reports

The "Laugh it Up" emote is one of four that can now be blocked using a setting in Fortnite. [credit: Epic Games ] For online players tired of being harassed by randos over voice chat, animated emotes have long served as a "safe" way to communicate in-game via simple, pre-approved non-verbal messages.

Enlarge (credit: Apple) Apple is going to announce some new things on Tuesday, May 7, at 10 am Eastern, according to an invitation the company sent out to members of the press (and posted to its website) this morning. The name Apple has given the event (“Let Loose”) doesn’t tell us much about what the company might announce, but the art does: It’s a hand holding an Apple Pencil, which almost certainly means the event will be iPad-focused. Apple has reportedly been on the cusp of releasing new iPads since late March, and the rumor mill has already delivered most of the key details.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) There's a new Linux distro on the scene today, and it's a bit specialized. Its development was led by the automotive electronics supplier Elektrobit, and it's the first open source OS that complies with the automotive industry's functional safety requirements. One of the more interesting paradigm shifts underway in the automotive industry is the move to software-defined vehicles.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty) For almost a decade, Nick Roy has been scanning North Korea’s tiny Internet presence, spotting new websites coming online and providing a glimpse of the Hermit Kingdoms’ digital life. However, at the end of last year, the cybersecurity researcher and DPRK blogger stumbled across something new: signs North Koreans are working on major international TV shows. In December, Roy discovered a misconfigured cloud server on a North Korean IP address containing thousands of animation files.

Enlarge / The third-generation Porsche Macan drops the internal combustion engine—this one is only available as a battery-electric vehicle. (credit: Porsche) Porsche provided flights from London to Nice and accommodation so Ars could drive the Macan. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. Porsche's Taycan has been a nice electric vehicle for the German brand, and the recently updated model is supposed to offer more of the good stuff and less of the bad.

Enlarge / This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features NGC 3783, a bright barred spiral galaxy about 130 million light-years from Earth. (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. C. Bentz, D. J. V. Rosario) Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science.