The LG G5 takes OLED performance to another level
LG OLEDs are consistently some of the best TVs you can get, and I've lost count how many times I've recommended them to family and friends. Add the LG G5 to that list. It's LG's high-end gallery-style TV, designed to look refined and sleek mounted on the wall - which it achieves thanks to its […]
Sandisk’s new 1TB USB-C SSD is so small you never need to take it out
Sandisk has released what it says is the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive, one tiny enough to plug into a laptop and never take out. The Extreme Fit is just a little bigger than the wireless dongle for my Logitech mouse. It’s L-shaped, slotting into a USB-C port but sticking up ever so slightly […]
EU's reforms of GDPR, AI slated by privacy activists for 'playing into Big Tech’s hands'

Lobbying efforts gain ground as proposals carve myriad holes into regulations

Privacy advocates are condemning the European Commission's leaked plans to overhaul digital privacy legislation, accusing officials of bypassing proper legislative processes to favor Big Tech interests.…

Extreme smart home makeover
The best time to make your home smart is at the very beginning. Whether you're building from scratch, renovating, or just moving in, a little bit of work on lighting, security, and energy management can go a long way. Getting started can be tricky, though: there's no obvious path to follow, no starter kit of […]
The iPad Pro at 10: a decade of unrealized potential
The theory of the iPad has always been simple: size matters. Even in its very first public debut in 2010, the iPad was mostly just an iPhone with a larger screen, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs believed that was enough. Remember the way Jobs sat down on an easy chair to read his iPad, scrolling […]
US taxpayers being kept in the dark over datacenter subsidies

Disclosure? We've heard of it

The US datacenter industry is reaping huge benefits from state-level subsidies, but transparency around these incentives is limited and states that do calculate their returns find they are losing money on the deals.…

Wyze’s new scale measures segmented body composition with a retractable handle
Wyze has announced its first smart scale that can capture body metric data for your arms, legs, and torso individually using a retractable handle. Wyze’s smart scales have traditionally been budget-friendly alternatives to offerings from competitors like Withings, whose entry-level Body Smart scale now starts at $129.95. The new Ultra BodyScan is Wyze’s most expensive […]
Lumines Arise is an almost perfect zen puzzle game
With Tetris Effect, designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his team at Enhance, Inc. managed to make something old feel new. There are few things as well defined in video games as the falling blocks of Tetris, and yet with the studio's trademark immersive sound and visual design, the game was transformed into something else, with every […]
Snapchat is letting subscribers revive their 2D Bitmojis
Snapchat is bringing its 2D Bitmoji user avatars back for paying subscribers. Over the coming days, users with a Snapchat Plus subscription (which starts at $2.25 per month for the annual plan) can enable a new “Comic Bitmoji” option that renders 3D avatars in a cartoon-style 2D. “Think of it like a filter for your […]
OWASP Top 10: Broken access control still tops app security list

Risk list highlights misconfigs, supply chain failures, and singles out prompt injection in AI apps

The Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) just published its top 10 categories of application risks for 2025, its first list since 2021. It found that while broken access control remains the top issue, security misconfiguration is a strong second, and software supply chain issues are still prominent.…

UK unveils roadmap for replacing animal testing

Years of development still needed but AI, 3D printing, and other alternative options on the horizon

The UK Government has unveiled a roadmap to replace animal testing with AI-driven options and other alternatives, targeting the elimination of certain regulatory tests by the end of 2026.…

The next iPhone Air has reportedly been delayed
Apple is no longer planning to launch a second-generation iPhone Air next fall and has “already sharply scaled back production of the first version,” The Information reports. The next Air is instead likely to launch in spring 2027 at the earliest, and will be upgraded with a second camera lens, according to a follow-up Information […]
Samsung brings a generative AI-powered Bixby to its TVs
Samsung is rolling out new conversational AI across its 2025 TVs that lets users ask questions about what’s on the screen and beyond it. First announced in September, the generative AI update is rolling out now with support for several languages. Vision AI Companion is based on an upgraded, generative AI-based version of Samsung’s virtual […]
Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic admits data stolen on 10k current and former staff

Clop's Oracle EBS exploit spree shows no sign of slowing, claims nearly 30 more casualties in media, finance, and tech.

Digital engineering outfit GlobalLogic says personal data from more than 10,000 current and former employees was exposed in the wave of Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) attacks attributed to the Clop ransomware gang. The Hitachi-owned biz joins a growing roster of high-profile victims that also now includes The Washington Post and Allianz UK.…

UK asks cyberspies to probe whether Chinese buses can be switched off remotely

Norwegian testers claim maker has remote access, while UK importer says supplier complies with the law

UK governmental is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to understand and "mitigate" any risk that China-made imported electric buses could be remotely accessed and potentially disabled.…

Battery trade war hits booming datacenter industry

Tariffs can't stop cheaper, better Chinese tech, says Jefferies. Tesla is Amercia's great hope

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) could become standard at datacenters as AI infrastructure expand, with analysts forecasting 20 GW of capacity deployed over the next decade.…

Cyber insurers paid out over twice as much for UK ransomware attacks last year

Massive increase in policy claims… and data doesn’t even cover the major attacks of 2025

The number of successful cyber insurance claims made by UK organizations shot up last year, according to the latest figures from the industry's trade association.…

Apple made a $230 crossbody… sock
If you were confused about Apple releasing a crossbody iPhone strap, then you’re going to find its new iPhone Pocket even more perplexing. The Pocket is actually a knitted bag, though it might be more apt to describe it as a sock designed to snugly encase your iPhone, instead of just sticking it in your […]
UK's Ajax fighting vehicle arrives – years late and still sending crew to hospital

Continuous track of long awaited AFV hits the ground ... and the terrain is pretty bumpy

The British Army just received its first new armored fighting vehicle (AFV) for nearly three decades, but it is years late, hit by rising costs, is still reportedly injuring its crew, and there are questions about whether it remains relevant in the age of drone warfare. …

AI isn't throttling HPC. It is HPC

Your real problem: 40kW racks, melting datacenters and rising power bills

Opinion  In recent discussions with industry vendor sales/marketing types, I've been hearing that HPC demand is falling off while AI system demand is continuing to increase. I've also seen articles implying that AI is somehow displacing HPC. Huh?…

Intel CTO and AI boss quits to join OpenAI after just six months in the job

Sachin Katti was one of new Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan's first appointments

Sachin Katti, the exec Intel promoted to chief technology and AI officer in April, will leave the x86 giant to join OpenAI after just six months in the job.…

Superintelligence probably not happening, but AI will still reshape society, expert panel says

Ask 339 people, get 339 answers

Experts may be skeptical about corporate AI hype to varying degrees, but they share the view that machine learning models will have a significant effect on society.…

LLM side-channel attack could allow snoops to guess what you're talking about

Encryption protects content, not context

Mischief-makers can guess the subjects being discussed with LLMs using a side-channel attack, according to Microsoft researchers. They told The Register that models from some providers, including Anthropic, AWS, DeepSeek, and Google, haven't been fixed, putting both personal users and enterprise communications at risk.…

memories of .us

How much do you remember from elementary school? I remember vinyl tile floors, the playground, the teacher sentencing me to standing in the hallway. I had a teacher who was a chess fanatic; he painted a huge chess board in the paved schoolyard and got someone to fabricate big wooden chess pieces.

Siri Shortcuts now works with Samsung SmartThings routines
Samsung’s latest SmartThings update adds support for Siri Shortcuts. In a press release, Samsung announced that you can now use Siri to run SmartThings routines, allowing you to use Apple’s voice assistant to control your smart home. Siri Shortcuts is a feature in iOS that lets you run automations by asking Siri. These can either […]
Secret setting hints haptic feedback coming to Windows 11 UI

Microsoft has generated some buzz about generating some buzz

Most phones and tablets include little motors that buzz when you perform common actions such as typing, or when apps notify users of important events. Microsoft may be about to bring similar good vibrations to the PC with features that see Windows 11 make your mouse or touchpad tremble when you perform UI actions such as snapping windows into place.…

Paramount Plus is getting a price hike in early 2026
Paramount Plus is going up in price again. As part of its earnings report released on Monday, Paramount announced that it will raise prices for subscribers in the US on January 15th, 2026, bringing the ad-supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, while the ad-free Premium plan will go from $12.99 to $13.99 […]
Nintendo’s upcoming Black Friday sale includes up to $30 off Switch classics
Nintendo rarely offers big discounts on its own games and gear throughout the year, but opportunities to save are coming soon. The company announced that multiple retailers will offer discounts of up to $30 off of beloved Switch games, as well as temporary price cuts on its amiibo figures, and a $20 off discount on […]
The best doorbell cameras
With a smart video doorbell, your front door’s communication skills go from 1980s landline to a modern smartphone. Combining a motion-activated camera with a microphone, speaker, and buzzer, a doorbell camera sends alerts to your phone, allowing you to see who’s at the door without needing to open it or even be at home. Whether […]
AI companies keep publishing private API keys to GitHub

Security biz Wiz says 65% of top AI businesses leak keys and tokens

Leading AI companies turn out to be no better at keeping secrets than anyone else writing code.…

AI slop hits new high as fake country artist hits #1 on Billboard digital songs chart

It sounds a lot like everything else

AI slop has reached a new level of ascendancy, as a country song by an AI artist has hit number one on Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales chart.…

An annual Walmart Plus membership is half off right now
If you have a mountain of holiday shopping to tackle over the next few weeks, Walmart is offering a great deal on Walmart Plus. New subscribers can snag an annual Walmart Plus membership for half off through December 2nd. The deal knocks the yearly price down to $49 ($49 off), which will automatically renew at […]
Altman sticks a different hand out, wants tax credits instead of gov loans

We can't let supply chain shortages burst the bubble boy's balloon

Free money is always better than a loan! OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said he doesn't want government-backed loans to fuel his AI ambitions, but he's more than okay with the idea of Uncle Sam handing out tax credits under the US CHIPS Act to subsidize AI server production, bit barns, and grid components.…

Google says its confusing Gemini Home rollout is going just great
Google started rolling out its new Gemini voice assistant for its smart speakers two weeks ago and, in a blog post marking the anniversary, the company seems to think everything is going great. It’s even quoting a user who said, “My Google Home just got upgraded with Gemini. It’s actually useful now beyond asking for […]
Gemini for TV is coming to Google TV Streamer starting today
Gemini for TV is rolling out to Google TV Streamer devices starting today, allowing almost anyone to try it out. Since it launched back in September, Gemini for TV has only been available on a limited number of smart TVs. If you didn’t have one of those devices, you were out of luck. Gemini for […]
Critical federal cybersecurity funding set to resume as government shutdown draws to a close - for now

Resolution acquiesced to by 8 Dems includes CISA Act funding, layoff reversals, and could be easily undone

The US Senate voted on Sunday to advance a short-term funding bill for the federal government, moving the country closer to ending its longest-ever shutdown. Part of the spending bill also restores critical cybersecurity programs that lapsed as the shutdown began. …

Apple’s AirPods 4 just hit their lowest price yet at $85
I’ve seen dozens of solid deals trickle in ahead of Black Friday, but Apple’s AirPods 4 hitting a new all-time low is the first one that’s really stood out to me. Right now, you can buy Apple’s entry-level wireless earbuds for just $84.99 ($44 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, which beats the previous […]
Phishers try to lure 5K Facebook advertisers with fake business pages

One company alone was hit with more than 4,200 emails

More than 5,000 businesses that use Facebook for advertising were bombarded by tens of thousands of phishing emails in a credential- and data-stealing campaign.…

Netflix might make its own video podcasts
Netflix’s video podcast ambitions may extend beyond its recent deal with Spotify. A new report from Bloomberg suggests Netflix is preparing to create original video podcasts exclusive to its streaming service as well. The streaming giant has reportedly contacted talent to create the new shows and plans to update the layout of its mobile app […]
Why I love my OXO kitchen scale
Brandt Ranj is a commerce reporter for The Verge, which means, he says, “I spend my time trying to find good deals and the best gear to recommend to our readers.” He also keeps The Verge’s wearables buyer’s guides up to date, but, he adds, “my role requires me to cover a little bit of […]
How to bluff your way to AI credibility with the right buzzwords

As Gartner offers another serving of word salad, it’s time to know your skillatrophy from your pipeline choke

A Gartner survey of 700 CIOs indicates that, by the end of the decade, all business IT work will involve AI, while bots will do 25 percent of that work by themselves. Good news: The analyst firm claims AI causes only one percent of job losses. Bad news: You'll have to learn some new jargon.…

Patreon is adding tweet-like features and more recommended content
Patreon is introducing a suite of new features, and some of them are reminiscent of traditional social media platforms. The most obvious callback is something Patreon is calling Quips, which — you guessed it — are essentially tweets. Quips are smaller text, photo, or video posts that are public by default and open for anyone […]
Ironclad OS project popping out Unix-like kernel in a unique mix of languages

There's more to safer systems languages than Rust

If you're looking for a Unix-like, POSIX-compatible, real-time kernel, there's no shortage of projects trying to build one. Ironclad stands out for using the Ada programming language and its formally verifiable SPARK subset.…

iRobot’s revenue has tanked and it’s almost out of cash
Things continue to look bleak for the original robot vacuum maker. iRobot’s third-quarter results, released last week, show that revenue is down and “well below our internal expectations due to continuing market headwinds, ongoing production delays, and unforeseen shipping disruptions,” said Gary Cohen, iRobot CEO, in a press release. This meant they had to spend […]
Bose’s latest QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are $50 off ahead of Black Friday
If your upcoming holiday plans include a lot of travel, having a pair of noise-cancelling earbuds can help make the flight or train ride a little less chaotic. Bose’s second-generation QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are among the best noise-canceling earbuds we’ve tested recently, and they’re on sale for a new all-time low of around $249 ($50 […]
Another chance for JPEG XL? PDF will support format as 'preferred solution'

Format declared obsolete by Google Chrome team wins PDF support

The PDF Association will add support for the JPEG XL (JXL) image format to the PDF spec, according to a recently published presentation from the org's European conference. This inclusion means that JXL may yet gain mainstream adoption, despite being declared obsolete by the Chromium team.…

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus reappears in renders with a new camera island
Just two months ago, accepted wisdom was that there would be no Galaxy S26 Plus, Samsung’s mid-sized flagship canned in favor of a slim Edge phone. Now things have flipped, with the Edge supposedly cancelled and the Plus not only on track to release early next year, but revealed in new renders based on the […]
Windows 11 26H1 is coming ... for new processors only

It's OK to look: New Canary channel build supports specific silicon while 26H2 remains the main 2026 update

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 version 26H1 is coming, but only with changes to support "specific silicon" – possibly Qualcomm's latest chips due next year – meaning ordinary users are unlikely to see it soon.…

Russian broker pleads guilty to profiting from Yanluowang ransomware attacks

Aleksei Volkov faces years in prison, may have been working with other crews

A Russian national will likely face several years in US prison after pleading guilty to a range of offenses related to his work with ransomware crews.…

Sir Tim Berners-Lee doesn’t think AI will destroy the web
Today, I’m talking with a very special guest: Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Tim is a legend in the history of the internet. He created HTML, the standard language for creating and structuring web pages, and the HTTP protocol that allows those pages to communicate using browsers and servers. It […]
Let’s talk about Pluribus
The lead-up to Pluribus has been very secretive. The basic premise - miserable woman is stuck in a world where everyone is happy - was known early on, but that was followed by cryptic trailers that didn't really reveal much else. But now we have a much better idea of what Pluribus is after the […]
CNN’s app is adding a ‘Shorts’ feed for bite-size videos
CNN is revamping its app’s homepage with a feed dedicated to short-form videos. The new “Shorts” tab houses a stream of clips with stories from CNN, allowing you to swipe through them like you would with TikTok or Instagram Reels. The CNN app already had a section for short-form videos in its “Watch” tab, but […]
America’s cybersecurity defenses are cracking
It was late June, and something strange was happening on Arizona's online portal for political candidates. Images of the candidates were disappearing. Photos of the Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini were popping up in their place. The state would later come to believe it was an attack from an Iranian government-affiliated group. When they first discovered […]
Tesla is fighting the EV sales slump with short-term rentals
Tesla is now in the business of short-term car rentals, as the company tries to mitigate falling sales in the US following the expiry of federal tax credits for electric vehicles. Rentals are currently being offered in two California Tesla stores in San Diego and Costa Mesa, with plans to expand to more locations by […]
SpaceX and Musk called on to rescue China's Shenzhou-20 crew

Technical and political obstacles block collaboration following suspected space debris strike on craft

SpaceX and Elon Musk are once again being called upon to rescue spacefarers — this time, the Chinese crew of Shenzhou-20, delayed on China's Tiangong space station after suspected space debris damage.…

Blue Origin scrubs second New Glenn launch
The second launch of Blue Origin’s partially reusable New Glenn rocket was scrubbed on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions, delaying NASA’s latest Mars mission. The Jeff Bezos-owned commercial space company announced that its next launch window from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida will be attempted “no earlier” than Wednesday, November 12th, between […]
De-duplicating the desktops: Let's come together, right now

Here come old FlatPak, it comes grooving up slowly...

Comment  The tendency of Linux developers to reinvent wheels is no secret. It's not so much the elephant in the room, as the entire jet-propelled guided ark ship full of every known and unknown member of the Proboscidea from Ambelodon to Stegodon via deinotheres, elephants, mammoths and other mastodons.…

Allianz UK joins growing list of Clop’s Oracle E-Business Suite victims

Insurance giant’s UK arm says cybercriminals misattributed the real victim

Allianz UK confirms it was one of the many companies that fell victim to the Clop gang's Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) attack after crims reported that they had attacked a subsidiary.…

Three most important factors in enterprise IT: control, control, control

We’re all out of it. How to get it back is an open secret

Opinion  When the first generation of microcomputers landed on desktops, they promised many things. Affordability, flexibility, efficiency, all the good things still selling IT to this day. Mostly, though, they offered control.…

UK military looking for tactical comms, systems suppliers in deal worth up to £9.6B

Major battle field technology refresh will be open to the rest of public sector

The UK government is launching a competition for military grade communications hardware and software in a tender worth up to £9.6 billion ($12.5 billion) including tax.…

Cisco creating new security model using 30 years of data describing cyber-dramas and saves

Doubles parameters to over 17 billion, to detect threats and recommend actions

Exclusive  Cisco is working on a new AI model that will more than double the number of parameters used to train its current flagship Foundation-Sec-8B.…

Techie ran up $40,000 bill trying to download a driver

In the dialup age, small mistakes could cost big money

Who, Me?  Welcome to another week in the world of work, and therefore also to another edition of Who, Me? It’s The Register’s Monday reader-contributed column in which you admit to the error of your ways.…

Microsoft teases agents that become ‘independent users within the workforce’

Licensing expert worries they’ll be out of control on day one

Microsoft has teased what it’s calling “a new class” of AI agents “that operate as independent users within the enterprise workforce.”…

Data breach at Chinese infosec firm reveals cyber-weapons and target list

PLUS: India’s tech services exports growing fast; South Korea puts the bite on TXT spam; NTT gets into autonomous vehicles; and more!

Asia In Brief  Chinese infosec blog MXRN last week reported a data breach at a security company called Knownsec that has ties to Beijing and Chinas military.…

Cleveland Guardians’ pitchers indicted for rigging online bets
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted in Brooklyn on charges that they conspired to illegally rig bets on pitches thrown during games. The two were charged with wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, among other things. According to the indictment: The defendants agreed […]
Louvre's pathetic passwords belong in a museum, just not that one

PLUS: CISA layoffs continue; Lawmakers criticize camera security; China to execute scammers; And more

Infosec in brief  There's no indication that the brazen bandits who stole jewels from the Louvre attacked the famed French museum's systems, but had they tried, it would have been incredibly easy.…

You need to listen to this compilation of ‘80s Spanish ambient and electronic music
Much of La Ola Interior (Spanish Ambient & Acid Exoticism 1983-1990) sounds shockingly contemporary for a collection of tracks recorded in the mid to late '80s. Ambient as a genre was already relatively well established by the time many of the artists on this compilation recorded their songs. But as we neared the end of […]
Arturia’s KeyStep mk2 MIDI controller is a shortcut to flow state
Arturia's KeyStep is one of the most popular MIDI controllers ever made, especially with modular synth users and the DAWless crowd. It's small, cheap, has an easy-to-use sequencer, and offers decent connectivity. But it was also released way back in January of 2016. The world of music gear moves more slowly than, say, smartphones, but […]
The tale of the Fire Phone, Amazon’s very strange smartphone
When Jeff Bezos decided Amazon needed to get in the smartphone game, he went all in. And the resulting device, the Fire Phone, wound up more densely packed with big ideas than just about any gadget you'll find anywhere. There was just one tiny problem: they were mostly bad ideas. The Fire Phone shipped in […]
Deck out your tree with ornaments of retro consoles, movie moments, and more
Do the ornaments you adorn your Christmas tree with reflect you or your family’s interests? If not, maybe you should rectify that. We recently went hands on with Hallmark’s realistic Xbox 360 replica ornament, which plays a snippet of audio from Halo 3. As it turns out, there are many other ornaments available that are […]
65daysofstatic’s new No Man’s Sky album searches for humanity in an AI-filled world
It's not often that a band returns to soundtrack the same game nine years after its release - then again, most games aren't No Man's Sky. Once demoed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and at splashy E3 press conferences, in 2016, No Man's Sky was heralded as gaming's future. And it was all […]
The algorithm failed music
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on how to break free of the algorithm and discover things you love, follow Terrence O'Brien. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started I used […]
Ikea just took over your smart home
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 105, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you've recovered from the clocks falling back, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about David Ellison and Common Crawl […]
Europe to decide if 6 GHz is shared between Wi-Fi and cellular networks

Two different groups want this valuable spectrum, but can they share?

A row is brewing in Europe over the 6 GHz part of the wireless spectrum, between those who believe it should be licensed for use by cellular networks and others that want it reserved for Wi-Fi.…

Here's one way to cut support ticket volume… send them to another company entirely

Misdirection is the new resolution at major video game house

The CEO of the company behind note-taking app Obsidian says the well-known video game house of the same name has sent one of its customer queries to his own team – claiming that "off-the-shelf AI support software" is why the gaming firm gave a user the wrong email address.…

The best earbuds we’ve tested for 2025
It’s hard to buy a bad pair of wireless earbuds these days, and with constant discounts and deals wherever you look, now is as good a time as any to splurge on the pair you’ve been eyeing. The market has come a long way since the early era of true wireless earbuds when we had […]
Apple helped kill netbooks. Will it bring them back?
Rumor has it, Apple is working on a low-cost MacBook. And not "low-cost for a Mac," but a proper cheap laptop, possibly as low as $599. For a company that traditionally targets the more premium end of the market, this would be something of an about-face. Of course, Apple takes great pride in its design […]
Sims streamers are distancing themselves from EA, but for some the choice is hard
The Sims 4 community is in turmoil. Its biggest stars are distancing themselves from the game with the support of their millions of subscribers. Then there are creators in the middle: those big enough to be known, but not big enough to be insulated. And they are struggling with a difficult choice of whether or […]
The Apple Watch SE 3 and Lego’s Star Wars Advent Calendar are our favorite deals this week
Hey, all! The first week of November ushered in dozens of early Black Friday deals, and many of the best ones are still available as we delve further into the weekend. Some of our favorite fitness trackers have already plunged to new lows, for instance, and we’re even seeing early discounts on holiday decor. We’ve […]
The Matic robot vacuum is smarter, quieter, and gets the job done
Robot vacuums are amazing machines, but they can also be a pain in the arse. In my home, testing a new robot vacuum often means digging it out from under my living room couch or unhooking it from the legs of my lounger. Then there's being woken at 3AM by a cheery "resuming cleaning," getting […]
The endearing movie that affirms creativity as a human act
Peter Hujar's Day began, as many great works of art do, with a DM. Director Ira Sachs (Passages, The Delta) had just finished reading a recently unearthed interview between the late portrait photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz that took place in 1974. That dialogue - a conversation about creative anxieties, complete with the […]
Soaring electricity rates fueled Democratic victories — now comes the hard part
While there's plenty for voters to be worried about right now, rising utility bills have become a hot-button issue. The success of Democrats in New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia in this week's elections can be seen as something of a referendum on the state of energy policy and infrastructure in the US as power grids […]
Who's watching the watchers? This Mozilla fellow, and her Surveillance Watch map

Esra'a Al Shafei spoke with The Reg about the spy tech 'global trade'

interview  Digital rights activist Esra'a Al Shafei found FinFisher spyware on her device more than a decade ago. Now she's made it her mission to surveil the companies providing surveillanceware, their customers, and their funders.…

Microsoft's lack of quality control is out of control

At one point, Microsoft's QC was legendary. Now, it's the wrong kind of legend

OPINION  I have a habit of ironically referring to Microsoft's various self-induced whoopsies as examples of the company's "legendary approach to quality control." While the robustness of Windows NT in decades past might qualify as "legendary", anybody who has had to use the company's wares in recent years might quibble with the word "quality."…

Meta can't afford its $600B love letter to Trump

The Zuck better hope his finance bros have deep pockets and a whole lotta patience to pull this off

Meta on Friday floated plans to invest $600 billion in US infrastructure and jobs by 2028 as part of a massive datacenter expansion.…

ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok make very squishy jury members

All three acquitted a teen in a mock trial based on a case where a judge ruled guilty

Law students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law last month held a mock trial to see how AI models administer justice.…

OpenAI employees… are you okay?

You might have seen an article making the rounds this week, about a young man who ended his life after ChatGPT encouraged him to do so.

Halo Infinite is about to get its last major update
On November 18th, Operation: Infinite will be released for Halo Infinite players with a battle pass and lots of new customizations, but according to the team, that’s it for this game’s content updates: With multiple Halo titles in development, we’ll need our whole team’s combined focus to deliver new experiences with the same passion and […]
Previously unknown Landfall spyware used in 0-day attacks on Samsung phones

'Precision espionage campaign' began months before the flaw was fixed

A previously unknown Android spyware family called LANDFALL exploited a zero-day in Samsung Galaxy devices for nearly a year, installing surveillance code capable of recording calls, tracking locations, and harvesting photos and logs before Samsung finally patched it in April.…

Maybe Peloton is its own worst enemy
For years - through its pandemic-fueled highs and its post-quarantine malaise - Peloton has held its earnings calls at a bright and bushy 8:30AM ET. Not yesterday. Instead, the company broke different news first thing in the morning: it issued yet another recall for 833,000 of its original Bike Plus units, before posting its Q1 […]
AI benchmarks are a bad joke – and LLM makers are the ones laughing

Study finds many tests don't measure the right things

AI companies regularly tout their models' performance on benchmark tests as a sign of technological and intellectual superiority. But those results, widely used in marketing, may not be meaningful.…

The best Fitbits for your fitness and health
In 2025, you might wonder if Fitbit is still relevant. Despite being acquired by Google, Fitbit remains one of the most recognizable names in the industry. Fitbit trackers aren’t meant for the most hardcore of athletes, but they’re still excellent devices for tracking overall activity as well as monitoring certain health and wellness metrics, like […]
Blackwell a no-sell in China as trade deal fails to materialize

Xi and Trump haven't gotten to discuss the chips, though they were supposed to

Nvidia's latest generation of Blackwell accelerators won't be available in China anytime soon, according to CEO Jensen Huang, who said there were no "active discussions" about selling the coveted chips to the Middle Kingdom.…

World of Warcraft is getting a new kind of fake money
The long-awaited addition of Housing in World of Warcraft is going to cost you. On top of your monthly subscription and the cost of the Midnight expansion itself, some Housing items will require a new in-game currency called “Hearthsteel” that players will have to pay for with real money. World of Warcraft already has hundreds […]
Blackmagic’s free camera app can now stream directly to YouTube and Twitch
Blackmagic released an update to its free camera app with some new features that streamers and professional broadcasters will appreciate. Both the Android and iOS versions of the Blackmagic Camera app can now stream directly to YouTube, Twitch, and Vimeo, removing the need for third-party apps or additional encoding hardware. You just need to select […]
Bell bottom-era tape unearthed, could contain lost piece of Unix history

It might have the first-ever version of UNIX written in C

A tape-based piece of unique Unix history may have been lying quietly in storage at the University of Utah for 50+ years. The question is whether researchers will be able to take this piece of middle-aged media and rewind it back to the 1970s to get the data off.…

borg master branch now has better platform testing on github, supporting and

See there:

github.com/borgbackup/borg/act

Some of these platforms have some test failures, PRs with improvements are welcome!

Anker’s 521 PowerHouse can power up to six devices, and it’s on sale
From weekend camping trips to unexpected power outages, having a reliable power source like the Anker 521 PowerHouse can be a lifesaver. Normally $249.99, right now you can buy the power station for the new low price of $128.99 at checkout at Amazon. The power station is essentially a portable backup battery with a 256Wh […]
China warns Dutch away from Nexperia as it lets chip exports resume

Netherlands court still overseeing governance at the chipmaker

Tensions between China and the Netherlands over the state of chipmaker Nexperia have begun to ease, but the battle for company control doesn't appear to be entirely resolved yet. …

Steam store pages are wider now
Valve is making Steam store pages wider as part of a new update rolling out today. With the changes, “many pages” will be widened from “940 pixels to now 1200 pixels,” Valve says. The company picked that 1200 pixels number because it found that it “felt like a good balance where we can show more […]
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