Seattle Airport Tests Virtual Security Screening Line; Twitter Expands Spaces; Disney Shows ‘Real’ Lightsaber; UAW Wants EV Subsidies Exclusive to US Made Cars

Seattle’s airport is testing out something that will be cheered by travelers…allowing travelers to wait in virtual lines for security screening. According to geekwire.com, with SEA Spot Saver, users can reserve a spot in advance and will be notified when to proceed to a TSA checkpoint. They are also road testing electric screens at kiosks that will detect fingers hovering over the virtual buttons, and you won’t have to press the screen. The tech is being used on check-in kiosks available to various airline passengers, including jetBlue, Spirit Airlines, Korean Air, Volaris, Air Canada and Frontier. Let’s hope this all pans out and spreads soon to all airports!

Twitter has expanded Spaces to anyone with 600 or more followers. Techcrunch.com reports that the feature will be available on both iOS and Android. along with it will come features like Ticketed Spaces, scheduling features, reminders, support for co-hosting, accessibility improvements, and more. The Spaces feature will be denoted by a purple bubble around someone’s profile picture in the Home timeline. A limited group of users will be getting access to Ticketed Spaces in the coming months. Twitter says it will take a small cut, but that the ‘majority’ of revenue will go to the creators themselves. 

After a brief glimpse for shareholders in April, Disney has revealed a first peek at their ‘real’ retractable lightsaber. Theverge.com says it indeed looks very cool. This one doesn’t have a goofy, lit up plastic blade you have to attach. You hear the sound effect and the bad appears to extend from the hilt, like in the films…with appropriate crackling sounds and whirrs when you move it. The new saber is expected to be out in time for the Galactic star cruiser hotel experience when that launches in 2022. As with all things Disney, just cry a little and hand over your credit card. The present lightsabers you build are $200, so you can count on this rascal being even more pricey. 

The United Autoworkers are pressing the Biden administration to apply electric vehicle subsidies only to cars built in the US. According to cnet.com, the union’s vice president Terry Dittes said in a statement. “US taxpayer money should never subsidize products assembled in Mexico or any other country.” President Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan calls for $100 billion in direct point-of-sale rebates for EV buyers, which would reduce the cost of the car while signing paperwork at the dealer, as opposed to a subsidy to the manufacturers. The previous plan, reintroduced in the Green Act in Congress, allows a $7000 tax credit to anyone who buys an EV.