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Car Review: 2022 BMW M850i xDrive Cabrio

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There is something special about driving a sports car with the convertible top folded down. When the roof is up it’s just another car; switch to Cabrio mode and the world opens to deliver a totally different driving experience. So it is with the BMW M850i xDrive — in this case it takes 15 seconds to get topless, and it can be done at speeds of up to 50 kilometres an hour.

When the top is powered down, wind is a non-issue when the windows are up and the wind deflector is in place. The latter does a good job of quelling the blustery backwash that sees the rider’s hair blow forward. The problem is when installed, it blocks the rear seat. This is less of an issue here, as the M850i Cabrio is a 2+2 where the rear seat is tight. Legroom is limited and, with the top up, headroom is at a premium, although a grateful rider did say it beats walking in the rain!

The rest of the cabin is class all the way. The fully articulated front seats are comfortable and feature seat-mounted neck warmers (part of the Premium pack). They add some needed warmth and coziness when out enjoying a fall evening cruise. Ahead of the driver, the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and head-up display combine to deliver the important information in a clean and concise manner. To the right, the 10.3-inch multimedia touchscreen responds quickly to inputs. However, on the road, the iDrive controller or “Hey BMW” assistant proved to be the better way to access or change a function. What impressed me was the fact the assistant functioned properly even when driving at highway speeds with the soft top down.

The disappointments are the aforementioned tight rear seat and the 351-litres of cargo space. It sounds like an acceptable number, but the trunk’s odd shape means you have to pack wisely when heading out for a weekend away.

Power comes from a silky 4.4L twin-turbo V8 that makes 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque between 1,800 and 4,400 rpm. More importantly, when the top is down it sings a glorious song through the quad pipes — the crackling pops during overrun in Sport mode is sublime.

The engine works with an eight-speed automatic to drive all four wheels. The latter is completely seamless as it shuttles the power around to the wheels that can put the power to the best use. Even when matted at the apex of a corner, the xDrive just seems to bite harder.

Of course, the real sweetness is found in the numbers. The wide, meaty torque plateau means the M850i responds instantly to a healthy stab at the gas. It runs from rest to 100 kilometres an hour in a tick under four seconds. That’s good, but it really catches fire through the mid-range — the 80-120 km/h passing move comes in at 2.8 seconds!

The M850i fairs equally well in terms of the manner in which it blends ride comfort with cornering ability. It starts with the adaptive suspension and runs through the M Sport rear differential and active steering. At low speeds, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the front wheels, which shortens the turning circle and eases the parking chore. When the speeds are elevated, the rear steer points the wheels in the same direction as the front wheels. This improves the response to input and adds to the sense of stability. It also helps to mask the M850i’s full-bodied size — it is a big car, but it has a mid-sized feel to the way it dives into a corner.

 

What separates the good from the bad in the convertible world is cowl shake. The easiest way of understanding this phenomenon is to look at a shoe box. With the lid in place the box has surprising torsional strength; take the lid off and it has the structural integrity of a soggy noodle. So it is with a car. Removing the second largest panel hurts the structural integrity. Yes, extra bracing and structural supports help replace the strength, but if it’s not done properly the body shakes and shimmies like a crazed go-go dancer when running a rutted corner. In this case, cowl shake in a non-issue. The result is a drive that has grand touring comfort about town, yet on a twisty backroad it’s nimble when heading into a corner and planted as it hauls out after clipping the apex.

2022 BMW M850i xDrive Cabrio
2022 BMW M850i xDrive Cabrio Photo by Graeme Fletcher

Where things do get complicated is the drive modes. There are Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport and Adaptive, but within each there are choices. For example, in Sport there are Standard and Plus settings along with an individual mode that allows the driver to tweak the suspension, steering, engine and transmission separately. Frankly, adopting a back-to-basics approach would suffice — Comfort for the city and Sport Plus for the fun times.

The BMW M850i xDrive has a sharp style and it’s very quick, but, more importantly, it manages to blur the line between a grand touring convertible and a drop-top sports car. It is a boulevardier when out for a sedate evening cruise; ramp everything up to hyper and its M side really shines brightly.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.

Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.

There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.

Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.

“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”

Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.

“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.

But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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