Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking: WhatsApp gives group chats pins that never expire and a way to catch new members up.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking news, and it just landed: WhatsApp is rolling out four new features for group chats. Kai is live at the data center. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Messages can now be pinned permanently, instead of vanishing after a set time. Kai, what else is in the update? ▶
KAI: Huge, Greta. Pins can now sit at the top of a group chat for good. Important plans stay put, and the servers behind me keep humming. ▶
KAI: Second one: you can share the chat history with a new member after they have joined. Tap their name and the recent messages go over. ▶
KAI: This is file footage of racks blinking in this hall. The article says shared history stays end-to-end encrypted, just like personal chats. ▶
KAI: Third, status updates can go to chosen groups. Fourth, a filter for unread chats with mentions, direct replies and at-all messages. Huge. Still typing on glass, though. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: A pinned message. So, a teletext page for the family group. Always on page one, never refreshes. Marvellous. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Not quite, Grant. You pin it yourself, and you can now choose no time limit at all. The article says the rollout is under way. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Avatar: Seven Havens ends Book One with an underdog moment, and spoilers are ahead.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: We first told you on Wednesday about how the show was being released in batches. Now Book One has reached its finale, and one twin steps up. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Vera, remind us how we got here. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: GamesRadar reports that in the finale, 'The Root Chakra', Pavi saves Ellora from the anomaly's destructive spirit energy dome. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Pavi lets go of her fear and unblocks her root chakra. Until then she had taken a back seat to her twin Nisha, the Avatar-in-training. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: And from our own earlier report: the show has been released in batches of episodes. Bullet point, patience. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: And what do the makers say, Vera? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Vera, what is still open? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The report points to a twin who was in the background and then was not. It doesn't say where Nisha's path goes from here. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Underdog saves the day. Wonderful. I always knew it would be the quiet one. Thank you, Vera. ▶
The Pixel Line: viewers call in (PXL)
GRANT BRICKMAN: The phones are open: viewers call in about our stories.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Welcome to The Pixel Line, where you call and we pretend we planned the answers. First up, Brenda in Hamburg. ▶
PASSERBY: Hello! Do the astronauts on the space station get trick-or-treaters at Halloween? I worried about them. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: No one knocks at the front hatch, Brenda. NASA says the crew still celebrate, dressing up, often in costumes made from materials aboard. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Homemade costumes. Resourceful. Next, Gerald in Dortmund. ▶
PASSERBY: Yes. The rats driving cars. Did the rats have licences? Nobody asked the rats. I have written before. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Gerald, New Scientist picked rats driving cars among twelve weird stories from its archive. The report doesn't mention licences. ▶
PASSERBY: Hi! I heard Lara Croft has a lo-fi album now. Is that real? And is it, like, relaxing? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: It is, Mia. Nearly an hour of music built on the work of Tomb Raider's composers, for the thirtieth anniversary. It sets Lara up as a rival to the Lofi Girl. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Study music with a grappling hook. Thank you, callers. The lines stay open, and so does the studio cat's patience. ▶
[AD · fictional product] Gorsley
GRETA FOOTNOTE: A public service announcement. Your group chat has forty unread messages and you have a meeting. This is normal.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Mute the chat. Pin the one message that matters. Check it once, after lunch, with a clear head.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The group will survive without you for an hour. The photo of someone's sandwich will keep. Now you know.
Weather
STORMY BYTES: Good morning. A high-pressure system of group chats is moving in, with a front of pinned messages stalling over most inboxes.
STORMY BYTES: Expect scattered at-all messages through the afternoon, with a chance of someone replying to a message from last Tuesday.
STORMY BYTES: Tomorrow looks calmer, but the hype climate remains unstable around new member catch-up. Dress in layers of mute.