10 things in tech you need to know today

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1. Blue Origin is sending William Shatner to space today. Barring any further delays, the 90-year-old actor will head to the edge of space on Blue Origin's second civilian flight. You can watch his 11-minute journey, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET, here.

2. A former Apple employee alleges Tim Cook's anti-leaking email violates worker-protection laws. Last month, Apple's CEO sent an email to staff saying leakers "do not belong" at the company. Now, a former employee has filed complaints with the NLRB, saying the email and Apple's strict employee handbook violate US labor laws. Read her explanation.

3. Google Cloud will help customers reduce their carbon footprint in its latest push against Amazon. The cloud giant has released new features to help customers reduce their carbon emissions. We outline the features - and explain why Google thinks they'll lure customers away from Amazon.

4. A second Facebook whistleblower says she's willing to testify before Congress. The employee, Sophie Zhang, told CNN she'd testify and that she's already shared documentation about "potential criminal violations" with US law enforcement. More on the second whistleblower to come forward.

5. You can now "soft block" people on Twitter. The new feature will allow you to quietly remove followers and keep them from seeing your tweets. Here's how to do it.

6. Astronaut's photo shows a rare "sprite" in Earth's atmosphere. The phenomenon, caused by lightning shooting up toward space, resulted in a flash of bright light above Earth. Check out the "very rare" photo.

7. Instagram is testing a feature that lets you know when it's having issues. After suffering two outages in a week, the new feature would alert users to any issues in their Activity Feeds, then again once the problem is fixed. Get the latest on the feature here.

8. After months of Mac rumors, Apple has announced an event. The Verge reported the company is expected to use the event, scheduled for Oct. 18, to unveil new MacBooks, a Mac Mini, and potentially third-generation AirPods. Everything we know about the event so far.

9. Women at Microsoft are sharing stories of gender discrimination at the company in a leaked email chain. Dozens of tech workers have shared stories about gender and racial discrimination, microaggressions, and pay disparities - and are urging the company to take action. Here's what women are saying about working at Microsoft.

10. In other Microsoft news: We have a leaked database of employees' salaries. More than 1,200 employees have compiled information on their compensation in a shared spreadsheet viewed by Insider. See the data on Microsoft employees' pay and promotions.

Compiled by Jordan Erb. Tips/comments? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @JordanParkerErb.

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