Just days after demanding Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan resign over his past ties to China, President Trump reversed course, calling Tan a "success" following a White House meeting. "I met with Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, of Intel, along with Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "The meeting was a very interesting one. His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" CNBC reports: Tan has been an Intel director since 2022, and in March he replaced Pat Gelsinger as CEO. Last week Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., questioned Tan's ties to China. Cotton brought up a past criminal case involving Cadence Design, where Tan had been CEO, and asked whether Intel required Tan to divest from positions in chipmakers linked to the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army and any other concerning entities in China. Trump's latest message marks a stark change in tone from last week. In a Truth Social post on Thursday, the president wrote that Tan "is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem." Intel said in a comment later that day that the company, directors and Tan are "deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Seeking Alpha: General Motors is reviving its autonomous driving program, tapping former Cruise employees to help design a driverless car for consumers. Under the helm of former Tesla autopilot head Sterling Anderson, GM is moving ahead with a driverless, eyes-free, vehicle with the ultimate goal of developing a car without a person at the wheel, according to a meeting between Anderson and employees revealed to Bloomberg. Anderson reportedly said plans include rehiring Cruise employees, and adding staff at GM's Mountain View, California office. Currently, LiDAR-equipped vehicles are collecting data on public roads for the development of GM's driverless vehicles, GM spokesperson Chaiti Sen told Bloomberg, with the goal of building simulation models that will guide development. GM (GM) shuttered its majority-owned, money-losing, Cruise robotaxi business late last year and let go of ~1,000 Cruise employees, after a pedestrian accident led to the grounding of its entire fleet and regulatory scrutiny. At the time, the company said it was pivoting away from robotaxis to the development of hands-free driving for personal vehicles.

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Prosus has secured conditional approval from the European Union for its $4.8âbillion (4.1 billion euros) acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, after agreeing to sell down its 27.4% stake in Delivery Hero. Reuters reports: Amsterdam-headquartered Prosus, which is majority owned by South Africa's Naspers, announced the deal in February, banking on its artificial intelligence capability to boost Just Eat Takeaway, Europe's biggest meal delivery company. The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, said Naspers offered to significantly reduce its 27.4% stake in Delivery Hero to below a specified very low percentage within 12 months. Naspers also pledged not to exercise the voting rights with its remaining limited stake in Delivery Hero and also not to increase its stake beyond the specified maximum level. It will not recommend or propose any person to Delivery Hero's management and supervisory boards. Prosus said the EU decision was the final regulatory approval needed to close the offer which ends on October 1 and that if all offer conditions including the acceptance threshold for the deal are met by that date, it will declare its offer unconditional within three business days. "Our ambition is clear: to build a true European tech champion and lead the next chapter in food delivery innovation," Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi said in a statement. "This decision also sends a clear warning to an industry with recent antitrust issues: we won't tolerate any anti-competitive behaviour that may harm consumers," she said. After the deal is complete, Prosus will become the world's fourth-largest food delivery company after Meituan, DoorDash, and Uber.

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Did Tesla remotely deactivate a Cybertruck in the middle of a highway because the owner featured it in an unauthorized music video? The story already seemed highly unlikely, and on Monday afternoon, Tesla tweeted about the video, saying, “This is fake – that’s not our screen. Tesla does NOT disable vehicles remotely.”

On Sunday, Instagram user @bighuey313 posted a video of his supposed deactivated Cybertruck, complete with a flashing red warning message on the truck’s main touchscreen. “Dog wtf my cybertruck just shut off on the freeway! 😡” he wrote in the caption. “Almost just crashed wtf @teslamotors.”

The owner also posted an image of what he claimed was a cease-and-desist letter from Tesla’s vice president of legal affairs, Dinna Eskin. The letter cites “unauthorized use of Tesla’s intellectual property in musical content distributed under your name.”

The video quickly went viral on BlueSky, where anti-Elon Musk sentiment has helped fuel nationwide protests against Tesla. But users quickly noticed a number of discrepancies, such as the fact that the letter opens “We represent Tesla” despite being signed by the company’s in-house counsel. The letter also uses Eskin’s old title, “Sr. Director and Deputy General Counsel,” despite her current title of VP. And the warning message isn’t formatted like Tesla’s typical in-vehicle alerts and notifications. An X user speculated that the flashing red title was likely just a YouTube video playing on fullscreen to simulate a legitimate error.

Despite these issues, the video went viral on BlueSky, X, and Reddit — and likely will continue to travel far and wide, confirming many people’s prior opinions about Tesla and Elon Musk.

Update August 11th: Tesla posted on X confirming the video is fake.

Boar's Head plans to reopen the Jarratt, Virginia, facility at the center of a deadly Listeria outbreak last year despite federal inspections continuing to find sanitation violations at three of the company's other facilities, according to federal records obtained by the Associated Press.

The AP obtained 35 pages of inspection reports via a Freedom of Information Act Request. Those reports cover inspections between January 1 and July 23 at three other Boar's Head facilities: Forrest City, Arkansas; New Castle, Indiana; and Petersburg, Virginia. Overall, the reports reveal a suite of violations, including mold, condensation dripping over food areas, overflowing trash, meat and fat residue built up on walls and equipment, drains blocked with meat scraps, and pooling meat juice. The reports also recorded staff who didn't wear the proper protective hairnets and aprons—and didn't wash their hands.

In one violation, reported in the Petersburg facility, inspectors found meat waste collecting under equipment, including "5-6 hams, 4 large pieces of meat and a large quantity of pooling meat juice."

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On Monday, Anthropic released a hotly anticipated memory function for its Claude chatbot.

In a YouTube video, the company demonstrated a user asking what they had been chatting about with Claude before their vacation. Claude searches past chats to read and summarize them for the user, then asks if they’d like to move on and keep working on the same project.

“Never lose track of your work again,” the company wrote. “Claude now remembers your past conversations, so you can seamlessly continue projects, reference previous discussions, and build on your ideas without starting from scratch every time.”

The feature works across web, desktop, and mobile, and it can keep different projects and workspaces separate. It started rolling out to Claude’s Max, Team, and Enterprise subscription tiers today — just go to “Settings” under “Profile” and switch the feature on under “Search and reference chats” — and the company said other plans should receive access soon.

But there’s an important caveat here: It’s not yet a persistent memory feature like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Claude will only retrieve and reference your past chats when you ask it to, and it’s not building a user profile, according to Anthropic spokesperson Ryan Donegan.

Anthropic and OpenAI have been going head-to-head in the AI arms race for quite a while, racing to roll out competing features and functionalities — like voice modes, larger context windows, and new subscription tiers — as they both raise ever-increasing funding amounts. Last week, OpenAI launched GPT-5, and Anthropic is currently looking to close a round that could value it as high as $170 billion.

Memory functions are another way leading AI companies are looking to attract and keep users on one chatbot service, increasing “stickiness” and user engagement.

Chatbots’ memory functions have been the subject of online debate in recent weeks, as ChatGPT has been both lauded and lambasted for its references to users’ past conversations, with some users controversially treating it as a therapist and others experiencing mental health struggles that some are referring to as “ChatGPT psychosis.”

In an unusual arrangement to secure export licenses, Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from certain chip sales to China. The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration halted the sale of advanced computer chips to China in April over national security concerns, but Nvidia and AMD revealed in July that Washington would allow them to resume sales of the H20 and MI308 chips, which are used in artificial intelligence development. President Trump confirmed the terms of the unusual arrangement in a Monday press conference while noting that he originally wanted 20% of the sales revenue when Nvidia asked to sell the "obsolete" H20 chip to China. The president credited Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang for negotiating him down to 15%. "So we negotiated a little deal. So he's selling a essentially old chip," Trump said. Nvidia did not comment about the specific details of the agreement or its quid pro quo nature, but said they would adhere to the export rules laid out by the administration. "We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven't shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide," Nvidia wrote in a statement to the AP. "America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership. America's AI tech stack can be the world's standard if we race."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Detroit Free Press: Ford is announcing the creation of a new electric vehicle production system and a new EV platform that will allow the automaker to more efficiently bring several lower-cost EVs to market, the first of which will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup that seats five, to launch in 2027. That pickup, which is expected to start around $30,000, will be assembled at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant for U.S. and export markets. The Dearborn-based automaker said it will invest $2 billion to retool the Louisville plant starting later this year. [...] Ford's investment in Louisville Assembly is in addition to Ford's previously announced $3 billion commitment for BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall, Michigan, where Ford will make the prismatic LFP batteries, starting next year, for the midsize electric pickup. Together, the nearly $5 billion investments mean Ford expects to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers. Ford executives and Kentucky officials also introduced on Monday, Aug. 11, the new Ford Universal EV Production System, which they said will simplify production and ease operations for workers. Ford leaders also announced the creation of the Ford Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, which will enable the development of "a family of affordable electric vehicles produced at scale." The vehicles will be software-defined with over-the-air updates to keep improving the vehicles over time. "We took a radical approach to solve a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that are breakthrough in every way that matters design, technology, performance, space and cost of ownership and do it with American workers," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. "Nobody wants to see another good college try by a Detroit automaker to make an affordable vehicle that ends up with idled plants, layoffs and uncertainty." Farley has teased this announcement since Ford's second-quarter earnings when he said Ford would have a "Model-T moment" on Aug. 11. He's referring to the classic vehicle that helped turn Ford into a mass market automaker and perfect the assembly line process. At that time, Farley said it was critical that Ford unveil an EV strategy that would position it to make money selling the electric cars and effectively compete against the Chinese, who are known for making high-quality, desirable and affordable EVs. "So, this has to be a good business," Farley said of Ford's investments in the new process and platform. "From Day 1, we knew there was no incremental path to success. We empowered a tiny skunkworks team three time zones away from Detroit. We reinvented the line. And we are on a path to be the first automaker to make prismatic LFP batteries in the U.S. We will not rely on imports." Ford says its new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform "reduces parts by 20% versus a typical vehicle, with 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and 15% faster assembly time." The new EV pickup built using this platform is targeting a "starting MSRP at about $30,000, roughly the same as the Model T when adjusted for inflation," adds Farley. He shared additional details in an interview with Wired, such as how the automaker hired Tesla veterans Doug Field (who also helped lead Apple's now-defunct EV project) and Alan Clarke. "Turns out, Doug and Alan and the team built a propulsion system that was like Apollo 13, managed down to the watt so that our battery could be so much smaller than BYD's," said Farley.

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Most desktop computers are designed for keyboard and mouse input. Most laptops have a built-in touchpad. But it’s surprisingly difficult to find a good touchpad that’s designed for use in a desktop setup. Mac users have Apple’s Magic Trackpad. But if you’re using Windows or Linux you’ll either need to fight with unofficial drivers to […]

The post Ploopy TrackPad review: USB touchpad with open source firmware and multitouch support appeared first on Liliputing.

You can added canister vacs to the growing list of connected appliances. | Image: Miele

Despite the convenience of cordless stick vacs, canister vacuums are still very much a thing for those with battery anxiety or those who want a lighter cleaner. Miele still offers over 20 different models of canister vacs in the US, but its latest is the company’s first to introduce smart functionality making it yet another appliance that wants access to your home’s Wi-Fi network.

The Miele Guard L1 Electro is available now for $1,499 making it the most expensive model in the company’s L1 lineup and considerably pricier than even the $380 canister vacuum that Dyson still sells. That seems like a lot for a vacuum that still has a power cord, but the Electro does offer additional functionality including a built-in LCD touchscreen for changing the vacuum’s cleaning mode. The screen also displays status messages letting you know when the filter or vacuum bag needs replacing, or if a clog is detected.

The Electro connects to Miele’s mobile app over Wi-Fi giving you another option for staying on top of those important status messages. And should it be time to replace bags or filters, you can conveniently order them directly through the app.

After 34 years of connecting Americans to the Internet through phone lines, AOL recently announced it is shutting down its dial-up modem service on September 30, 2025. The announcement marks the end of a technology that served as the primary gateway to the World Wide Web for millions of users throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

AOL confirmed the shutdown date in a help message to customers: "AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans."

AOL's dial-up service launched as "America Online" in 1991, when the Internet consisted primarily of text-based content, although its dial-up roots extend back to a service launched in 1985 called Quantum Link for Commodore computers. For the next few years, as the World Wide Web emerged, websites were measured in kilobytes, images were small and compressed, and video was essentially impossible. The service grew alongside the web itself, peaking at over 20 million subscribers in the early 2000s before broadband adoption accelerated its decline.

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Biochar produced from solid human excrement could supply up to 7% of global phosphorus fertilizer needs annually, according to a Cornell University study published in PNAS. When combined with nutrients extracted from urine, the process could provide 15% of phosphorus, 17% of nitrogen, and 25% of potassium used in agriculture worldwide. The biochar production process reduces solid waste volume and weight by up to 90%, while allowing nutrient proportions to be adjusted for specific crop requirements.

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Reddit is now blocking the Internet Archive (IA) from indexing popular Reddit threads after allegedly catching sneaky AI firms—restricted from scraping Reddit—instead simply scraping data from IA's archived content.

Where before IA's Wayback Machine dependably archived Reddit pages, profiles, and comments—as part of its mission to archive the Internet—moving forward, only screenshots of the Reddit homepage will be archived. As The Verge noted, this means the archive will only be useful as a snapshot of popular posts and news headlines each day, rather than providing a backup documenting deleted posts or a window into various Reddit subcultures or any given user's activity.

Reddit has not confirmed which AI firms were scraping its data from the Wayback Machine. The company's spokesperson, Tim Rathschmidt, would only confirm to Ars that Reddit has become "aware of instances where AI companies violate platform policies, including ours, and scrape data from the Wayback Machine."

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Reddit says that it has caught AI companies scraping its data from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, so it’s going to start blocking the Internet Archive from indexing the vast majority of Reddit. The Wayback Machine will no longer be able to crawl post detail pages, comments, or profiles; instead, it will only be able to index the Reddit.com homepage, which effectively means Internet Archive will only be able to archive insights into which news headlines and posts were most popular on a given day.

“Internet Archive provides a service to the open web, but we’ve been made aware of instances where AI companies violate platform policies, including ours, and scrape data from the Wayback Machine,” spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt tells The Verge.

The Internet Archive’s mission is to keep a digital archive of websites on the internet and “other cultural artifacts,” and the Wayback Machine is a tool you can use to look at pages as they appeared on certain dates, but Reddit believes not all of its content should be archived that way.“Until they’re able to defend their site and comply with platform policies (e.g., respecting user privacy, re: deleting removed content) we’re limiting some of their access to Reddit data to protect redditors,” Rathschmidt says.

The limits will start “ramping up” today, and Reddit says it reached out to the Internet Archive “in advance” to “inform them of the limits before they go into effect,” according to Rathschmidt. He says Reddit has also “raised concerns” about the ability of people to scrape content from the Internet Archive in the past.

Reddit has a recent history of cutting off access to scraper tools as AI companies have begun to use (and abuse) them en masse, but it’s willing to provide that data if companies pay. Last year, Reddit struck a deal with Google for both Google Search and AI training data early last year, and a few months later, it started blocking major search engines from crawling its data unless they pay. It also said its infamous API changes from 2023, which forced some third-party apps to shut down, leading to protests, were because those APIs were abused to train AI models.

Reddit also struck an AI deal with OpenAI, but it sued Anthropic in June, claiming Anthropic was still scraping from Reddit even after Anthropic said it wasn’t scraping anymore.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Reddit and continue to have ongoing discussions about this matter,” Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, says in a statement to The Verge.

Update, August 11th: Added statement from the Wayback Machine.

Have you heard of Natalie the Nerd? She’s a pillar of the Nintendo Game Boy modding scene who taught herself to reverse engineer and design Game Boy circuit boards.

Now, she’s put her skills to work in probably the most beautiful build I’ve ever seen: a working see-through Game Boy Color where even the circuit board is made of clear plastic. Because she designed and created that board herself from scratch, you see.

I’ve been floored by console mods before, but I’d typically limit praise to saying they’re “damn clean.” But this thing, to paraphrase Indiana Jones, belongs in a museum. “Damn that’s lovely,” says one of my colleagues. “It’s such a delight,” says another.

Another reason why it’s probably a museum piece: she agreed with one commenter that it’s likely too flimsy and fragile for extended use. “Yeah not practical at all, just art work TBH,” she wrote.

Natalie lives in Australia, where she sometimes sells RGB lighting kits and other aftermarket components for Game Boy modding and offers repair services. You can also support her work at ko-fi.

New submitter darwinmac writes: Kapitano, a user-friendly GTK4 frontend for the ClamAV scanner on Linux, has been killed by its developer 'zynequ' following a wave of harsh, personal attacks from a user. The tool was meant to simplify virus scanning but quickly became a flashpoint when a user claimed it produced malware. After defending the code calmly, the developer was nonetheless met with escalating accusations and hostility, leading to burnout. The project is now marked as "not maintained," its code released into the public domain under The Unlicense, and it's being delisted from Flathub. zynequ said: "This was always a hobby project, created in my free time with none of the financial support. Incidents like this make it hard to stay motivated."

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Fewer people need a universal remote control these days, which explains why the category is dying and great options are hard to find. But if your home-entertainment system is more complex than the basic media player, TV, and soundbar combo, and you’re looking for one remote to control all your gear, the Sofabaton U2 Universal Remote Control is the best option we’ve found under $100.

This model has some notable flaws, but compared with its competitors, it can control a wider variety of home-entertainment devices and has a better physical design.

Microsoft has owned GitHub since 2018, but the widely used developer platform has operated with at least a little independence from the rest of the company, with its own separate CEO and other executives. But it looks like GitHub will be more fully folded into Microsoft's organizational chart starting next year—GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced today that he would be leaving GitHub and Microsoft "to become a founder again."

"GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organization, with more details shared soon," Dohmke wrote. "I’ll be staying through the end of 2025 to help guide the transition and am leaving with a deep sense of pride in everything we’ve built as a remote-first organization spread around the world."

Axios reports that Microsoft isn't directly replacing Dohmke, and GitHub's leadership team will be reporting to multiple executives in the CoreAI division.

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A Revel charging station in Brooklyn in 2022.

Revel is shutting down its ridehail business, citing heightened competition from rideshare leaders like Uber and Lyft. The company, which began as an electric moped business before shifting to rideshare, plans to pivot to electric vehicle charging.

“At the end of the day, rideshare is a very competitive market and asset-heavy,” Revel CEO Frank Reig said in a statement to Bloomberg. “It’s low margin. We have made the difficult decision that the best way we can keep the EV transition moving forward is by ending our rideshare service and focusing on building the fast-charging infrastructure our biggest cities need to keep going electric.”

The Brooklyn-based company launched in 2018 with its signature neon blue rental mopeds before graduating to an all-Tesla ridehail fleet. Revel’s signature baby-blue Model Ys mostly operated in New York and New Jersey.

Revel is seeking to sell 165 for-hire vehicle license plates, as well as a buyer for its Tesla and Kia vehicles, according to Bloomberg. The company recently opened several EV charging hubs in New York City and California, and plans to open hundreds more by the end of next year.

Whether you’re looking to build some muscle or add a new twist to your workout routine, adjustable dumbbells are a more compact (and usually less expensive) alternative to a full rack of traditional weights.

After lifting thousands of pounds and completing hundreds of reps, we recommend Core Home Fitness’s Adjustable Dumbbell Set — which can go up to 50 pounds faster than you can sneeze — as the best set for at-home use.

If you’ve ever had to remind yourself to sit up straight or found yourself unconsciously taking on a shrimp posture while seated, a lumbar support pillow might be just what the doctor ordered.

We spoke with spinal specialists and ergonomic consultants, evaluated 11 cushions with more than 30 testers, and spent many hours scouring the internet to find the models that really have your back. Although no lumbar support cushion is as ideal a solution as an ergonomic office chair, such cushions are a much cheaper way to tackle the same problem, offering an affordable remedy for mild lower-back pain and poor posture.

The Tempur-Pedic LumbarCushion Travel is the best lumbar support pillow you can get, thanks to its sleek design and its proprietary Tempur foam, which never seems to go flat. And its lightweight size makes it easy to take with you wherever you go.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Starbucks patrons in South Korea are setting up de facto offices at the coffee chain, bringing along their desktop computers and printers. The company implemented a new policy banning bulky items from store locations. In South Korea, where office space is scant, remote workers are using cafes as a cheap place to work. Starbucks South Korea is experiencing this exact phenomenon and is now banning patrons from bringing in large pieces of work equipment, treating the cafes like their own amenity-stuffed office space. "While laptops and smaller personal devices are welcome, customers are asked to refrain from bringing desktop computers, printers, or other bulky items that may limit seating and impact the shared space," a Starbucks spokesperson told Fortune in a statement.

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The OnePlus Watch 3 starts at $269.99 ($30 off) for the new 43mm model. | Image: The Verge / OnePlus

OnePlus has kicked off its back-to-school sale, and the deals are pretty solid. There are discounts on the company’s impressive tablets, but the highlights are the new low prices on its smartwatches. Right now, you can buy the 43mm OnePlus Watch 3 for $269.99 ($30 off), while the 46mm is $319.99 ($30 off). Even the OnePlus Watch 2 is cheaper than it’s ever been at $199.99 ($100 off). Students get an additional 10 percent off, making these deals even sweeter.

We’ve recommended the OnePlus Watch 2 as a great alternative to Google and Samsung smartwatches since its debut, and the Watch 3 builds upon it with small, but meaningful upgrades. It retains everything we loved in its predecessor, like dual-frequency GPS and long battery life, but now adds Google Gemini, a rotating crown that scrolls, and video watch faces. The company also added its 60S Health Check-In, which provides a quick snapshot of your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, mental wellness, wrist temperature, sleep quality, and vascular age (with European users also getting EKGs) with a click of a button.

The OnePlus Watch 3 comes in two sizes: a new 43mm model introduced in July, and a 46mm version released back in April. Both are similar in terms of specs, but the 43mm model skips the 46mm’s temperature sensor that was used for reproductive cycle tracking and fall detection. The 46mm wearable also boasts a larger, brighter 2,200-nit OLED display, which is double the brightness of the 43mm version (1000 nits).

Read our hands-on impressions of the OnePlus Watch 3.

OnePlus Watch 3

The OnePlus Watch 3 builds upon the OnePlus Watch 2 with a new 43mm size and rotating crown bezel. The 43mm adds reproductive cycle tracking and fall detection as well, while the 46mm adds a wrist temperature sensor.

Where to Buy:

• $299.99 $269.99 at OnePlus (43mm)
• $349.99 $319.99 at OnePlus (46mm)

The Switch 2 can be enjoyed right out of the box, but it’s even better with the right accessories. Some of these add-ons are more crucial than others, especially if you’re deciding what to buy early on. For example, a case and a screen protector can keep your console safe from scuffs, scratches, and drops, so both are what I’d consider to be essential.

On the other hand, a microSD Express card lets you add even more digital games to your library, although the console’s somewhat generous 256GB of internal storage means you may not need one right away. Some others don’t add enough to the gaming experience to be worth it. Those Joy-Con 2 steering wheel accessories? You can pass on those.

The Switch 2 and its games are expensive enough, so we’ve assembled this guide with picks that are a great value. You don’t need to spend hundreds on accessories — many of us at The Verge certainly aren’t. No matter your budget, we’ve included numerous categories, beginning with a starter kit of recommendations we think everyone should consider.

Our seven must-have Switch 2 accessories

amFilm OneTouch two-pack of glossy screen protectors

This two-pack of glossy screen protectors is a great value.

Where to Buy:

• $15.99 $8.99 at Amazon

tomtoc slim carrying case for the Switch 2

A slim, durable case that comes in multiple color schemes.

Where to Buy:

• $47.99 $33 at Amazon

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller

The Switch 2 wireless controller with the most features, but it’s not cheap.

Where to Buy:

• $89 at Walmart
• $89.99 at Best Buy
• $89 at Amazon

8BitDo USB Adapter 2

Grab this to be able to use your Xbox or PS5 controller on your Switch 2.

Where to Buy:

• $19.99 $18.99 at Amazon (with on-page coupon)
• $19.99 at 8BitDo
• $19.99 at Best Buy

Sandisk microSD Express card

Once you’ve filled up the Switch 2’s built-in 256GB SSD, add some extra storage.

Where to Buy:

• $53.99 at Amazon (128GB)
• $71.99 at Amazon (256GB)
• $115.99 at Amazon (512GB)

Ugreen USB-C-to-ethernet adapter

Switch 2 Wi-Fi download speeds are painfully slow. This can help speed things up in handheld mode.

Where to Buy:

• $14.99 $12.99 at Amazon

Fastsnail Switch/Switch 2 Joy-Con charging dock

A great accessory for households with original Switch Joy-Con laying around.

Where to Buy:

• $24.99 $19.99 at Amazon

Best Switch 2 controllers

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro

The Switch 2 Pro is Nintendo’s latest flagship wireless controller. It’s similar in several ways to the excellent Pro controller that debuted alongside the Switch, especially in design, with its analog stick layout, and because it’s the most replete with features you won’t find on other Switch 2 gamepads.

Its motion control support isn’t a novel feature (many third-party controllers offer that), but its Amiibo NFC support is still something that almost no alternatives offer. Another feature that makes this one worth considering despite its high price is its 3.5mm headphone jack, in case you want to plug in a set of wired headphones for private listening. Additionally, it can wake the Switch 2 from standby via Bluetooth (only a select few wireless models possess this ability), so you don’t have to get off your couch to hit the console’s power button. Lastly, this model has two additional buttons that can be mapped to mimic almost any other button. (some cheaper alternatives, including the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 and Pro 3, feature four extra buttons).

The Switch 2 Pro is very comfortable, and it’s the controller that I always want to use when given the choice between the options below. But it’s not perfect. For one, it’s pricey at $89.99, and you’d think for that price Nintendo might have opted for drift-resistant sticks. Alas, you owe $5 to your buddy who bet that Nintendo would doggedly opt again for potentiometer sticks that are proven to tear down over time. Its sticks haven’t caused issues so far, but it’s possible that they might not fare as well — and as long — as models below that feature more durable Hall effect or TMR joysticks.

Read our review of the Switch 2 Pro

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller

The Switch 2 Pro Controller features new remappable “GL” and “GR” rear buttons, the “C” button to access in-game chat features, and a headphone jack.

Where to Buy:

• $89 at Walmart
• $89.99 at Best Buy
• $89.99 at Target

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8BitDo Pro 3

8BitDo’s Pro 3 is a good alternative to the Switch 2 Pro controller: it’s slightly cheaper, yet better in some ways (and a bit worse in others) that might matter to you.

Starting with the good, the company upgraded its joysticks to the even more durable TMR sensors. The two back paddles are carried over from the first iteration, though there’s a new pair of buttons (L4 and R4) near the triggers that can be customized. Also of note are new toggle switches around its backside (similar to what we saw on the DualSense Edge) that let you alter the travel distance of its two triggers. Toggling a switch makes the corresponding trigger feel more like a mouse click.

It’s also worth noting that this controller is significantly more customizable than the Switch 2 Pro, as well as most other controllers out there. Its face buttons are magnetically attached, and can be removed to let the Pro 3 flip between the Switch layout and the Xbox layout.

While the Pro 3’s TMR sticks might make it last longer, there are some trade-offs compared to the pricier Nintendo alternative — none of which are deal-breakers if saving money is a top priority. For example, its attempts to replicate the subtle blips and buzzing of Nintendo’s impressive HD haptics in the Switch 2 Pro controller are just not good. Its attempts at replicating the smallest, nuanced vibrations of Donkey Kong walking in Bananza makes it go full boar. I’d sooner turn off the vibration entirely than deal with how jarringly intense it feels, and thankfully you can in the app.

Other downsides are more minor, but are still worth knowing about. It lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it doesn’t have the C button to launch GameChat. However, you can easily assign the feature to one of the Pro 3’s buttons via the Switch 2’s OS — but not to its additional buttons (the two R buttons near the triggers, and the two rear paddles). If you’d prefer to use the controller’s built-in button combo to reassign in-game commands to any of its buttons, that’s easy to do, per the instructions in its PDF manual.

Read our review of the 8BitDo Pro 3

8BitDo Pro 3 controller Where to Buy:

• $69.99 at Amazon

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8Bitdo USB Adapter 2

It’s technically not a controller, but I’m a broken record when it comes to recommending 8BitDo’s USB Adapter 2 for households already with more than one console. In the case that you have an Xbox or a PS5 and would rather not buy a bespoke Switch 2 controller, just buy this $20 adapter instead, and use it to connect a wireless controller you already own.

This adapter goes into the Switch 2’s dock (or directly into the console, if you have a USB-A to C adapter). Connecting your controller is as easy as putting it into pairing mode, then ensuring that the “Pro Controller Wired Communication” option is turned on within the console’s settings. Click and hold the adapter’s coin-shaped button to initiate pairing, then you should be good to go. The DualSense’s rumble and motion controls work seamlessly, and you can remap buttons as you please within the console’s OS, just like you would an official Switch controller.

Best adapter: 8BitDo Wireless Bluetooth USB Adapter 2

The 8BitDo’s latest adapter resembles a flash drive, but once connected to your Switch’s dock, it allows you to wirelessly pair it with a variety of PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo controllers.

Where to Buy:

• $19.99 $18.99 at Amazon (with on-page coupon)
• $19.99 at 8BitDo
• $19.99 at Best Buy

Best Switch 2 cases

Dbrand Killswitch

The Killswitch is a great Switch 2 companion, whether you’re someone who primarily uses the console in handheld mode or while it’s docked. It’s a case that wraps around the Switch 2’s back, with detachable components that snugly grip onto each Joy-Con 2, adding some extra bulk that makes them more comfortable to hold. Above all else, it’s a great way to protect your console from scratches and slightly more significant damage. What’s also great is that it doesn’t limit its flexibility as a hybrid console.

Each Killswitch ships with a USB-C dock adapter that is inserted into the Switch 2 dock. Since the case-equipped console can no longer fit in Nintendo’s dock, this adapter lets you connect it to your TV without taking off the case. It’s tougher to correctly align the Switch 2’s USB-C jack with this adapter than it is to put it in the dock, but it gets easier with practice.

Read our review of the Dbrand Killswitch

Dbrand Killswitch – Switch 2 Where to Buy:

• $59.99 at Dbrand

Tomtoc FancyCase Slim zip-up case

The best, slimmest zip-up case you should buy is made by Tomtoc. Compared to the Belkin hard zip-up case that I got my hands on before the Switch 2’s launch, the Tomtoc FancyCase slim case feels more durable; anecdotally, it holds up much better to being squeezed by hand. It even has more vertical clearance above the Joy-Con 2 sticks, so it’ll never press them in on accident. Like most zip-up cases, it features a screen cover that doubles as cartridge storage. This one can hold 12 cartridges.

I’m confident that it’ll absorb more potential damage over time than other cases I’ve tried. Plus, it just looks cooler, with low-profile designs for gamers who don’t want to draw attention to their console. That said, its “Froz Edition” has ice cream-inspired looks that are a lot more expressive.

tomtoc slim carrying case for the Switch 2

This hard case has a soft touch and a slim fit, and includes a flap that can hold up to 12 cartridges as it protects the console’s screen.

Where to Buy:

• $47.99 $33 at Amazon

Belkin fabric zip-up case

Belkin’s $29.99 zip-up case is another competent, good-looking option that’s slim and lightweight. It’s worth considering over the Tomtoc for one reason only: its built-in pocket, which is great if you need to stow a charging cable or any other small doo-dads. Not to mention, this pocket contains another pocket for an AirTag or similar Bluetooth tracker, so you can track this case’s location should you lose track of it.

Belkin makes a thicker, pricier version of this case that has a 20,000mAh 20W battery inside. It’s nearly identical until you open it. A cutout fits this (and only this) Belkin battery perfectly, and it lets you charge your Switch 2 at top speeds while it’s protected.

Belkin Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 Where to Buy:

• $29.99 at Amazon
• $29.99 at Belkin

Best Switch 2 cameras

The best webcam that you can get for your Switch 2 should be the cheapest one you can find that’s guaranteed to work with it. So far, Logitech has confirmed that almost all of its webcams support the Switch 2, and Elgato has updated its Facecam MK.2 to support it, as well. Elgato’s model is pricier than we recommend most people spend, but it’s a solid option if you also have a PC to use it with. It’s worth knowing that the Switch 2 displays low-fidelity video feeds during gameplay, so unless you plan to use the webcam with your PC as well, it’s not worth spending a lot for a model that promises great video quality.

Logitech Brio 100 webcam Where to Buy:

• $39.99 $24.99 at Amazon
• $39.99 $24.99 at Staples
• $39.99 $24.99 at Logitech

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera Where to Buy:

• $54 at Walmart
• $54.99 at Best Buy
• $54.99 at Target

Elgato Facecam MK.2 Where to Buy:

• $139.99 at Best Buy
• $139.99 $123.39 at Amazon
• $139.99 $129.99 at B&H Photo

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Best Switch 2 portable batteries

The Switch 2 is more powerful than the original Switch. However, it doesn’t require all that much more power to charge, even while you’re playing games. While new phones and tablets are breaking new ground with fast charging speeds, getting a power bank that can deliver at least 20W is totally sufficient to get the fastest-possible charging speeds with the Switch 2 in handheld mode.

By using a display-equipped USB-C cable with a wattage reading, I was able to see that the Switch 2 usually pulls a maximum of about 15-17W of power (sometimes less) from a USB-C battery during gameplay. When the system was asleep, the rate went down to between 8-13W, fluctuating at different points during the charging process. From a totally dead state, the console took almost 90 minutes to reach 69 percent with a 20W battery plugged into it. You’ll likely drain your USB-C battery more quickly if you’re playing as you charge.

Thankfully, your options for compatible batteries are plentiful. You’ll likely be paying for more power than you’ll need with the Switch 2, but more power (and especially more ports) are never a bad thing to have too much of.

Anker Zolo Power Bank (10K, 30W) Where to Buy:

• $25.99 $16.09 at Amazon (with Prime)
• $25.99 at Anker

Ugreen Nexode power bank (20K, 45W) Where to Buy:

• $45.99 $34.99 at Amazon

Baseus Picogo power bank (10K, 45W) Where to Buy:

• $39.99 $25.99 at Amazon

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Best microSD Express cards for Switch 2

The Switch 2 supports microSD Express cards of up to 2TB, even though models with that amount of storage aren’t yet available for purchase. Most brands make cards in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations, and some offer 1TB cards as well. I’d suggest grabbing the cheapest microSD Express card you can find, as so far they all offer similarly fast read/write speeds.

Sandisk microSD Express card Where to Buy:

• $53.99 at Amazon (128GB)
• $71.99 at Amazon (256GB)
• $115.99 at Amazon (512GB)

Samsung microSD Express Card (256GB) Where to Buy:

• $59.99 at Amazon
• $59.99 at Best Buy (256GB)
• $59.99 at Target (256GB)

PNY microSD Express card Where to Buy:

• $58.99 $54.96 at Amazon (256GB)
• $58.99 $55.99 at B&H Photo (256GB)
• $58.99 at PNY (256GB)

GameStop microSD Express card Where to Buy:

• $54.99 at GameStop (256GB)
• $189.99 at GameStop (1TB)

Companies are canceling clean hydrogen projects across the United States after Congress shortened the qualification window for a Biden-era tax credit by five years, requiring projects to be under construction by the end of 2027. Energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie estimates three-quarters of proposals will not meet this deadline. Woodside Energy and Fortescue have scrapped projects in Oklahoma and Arizona respectively, citing cost increases and policy uncertainty. According to McKinsey, fewer than 15% of low-emission hydrogen projects announced in the United States since 2015 have reached final investment decision stage.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

What’s so smart about smart thermostats? They not only ensure that your home’s temperature is comfortable, but they also do that while saving money and—not coincidentally—fighting climate change by better conserving energy resources. And the smartest ones do all that automatically.

Our pick, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, kept the temperature more consistently pleasant year-round than any other model I tested. It comes with a remote SmartSensor, which balances temps in your home, and it has a built-in smart speaker for use with Alexa or Siri. Ecobee’s privacy policy is best in class, and the company still provides support for even its earliest years-old models.

iRobot, maker of the iconic Roomba robot vacuum, announced its second-quarter earnings late last week, and the numbers keep going down. Despite launching an entirely new product line, its revenue declined 23 percent to $127.6 million from the previous quarter, with the lucrative US and European markets being hit hardest.

The company has struggled in the face of increased competition from Chinese manufacturers and the collapse of a sale to Amazon, which left it deep in debt. Earlier this year, CEO Gary Cohen indicated iRobot could shut down within 12 months if something didn’t change. The clock is ticking.

Last week, Cohen said that while customer response to the new product line has been “encouraging,” iRobot didn’t meet its goals this quarter “due to persistent market headwinds and delays in scaling production and sales of our new products.” He confirmed the company is still looking at a potential sale or other “strategic alternatives” to get out of debt.

Wikipedia's parent organization lost a challenge to the UK Online Safety Act but can bring another case if the government tries to force it to verify the identity of Wikipedia users.

The High Court of Justice in London dismissed claims from the Wikimedia Foundation, which challenged the lawfulness of the categorization system used to determine which sites must comply with obligations. But Justice Jeremy Johnson stressed "that this does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia's operations."

The Online Safety Act has forced social media sites like Reddit to verify UK users' ages before letting them view adult content. The Wikimedia Foundation is worried that it will be classified as a "Category 1" operator later this summer and criticized the categorization regulations as "especially broad and vague."

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Early Monday morning, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from its original launch site in Florida. Remarkably, it was SpaceX's 100th launch of the year.

Perhaps even more notable was the rocket's payload: two-dozen Project Kuiper satellites, which were dispensed into low-Earth orbit on target. This was SpaceX's second launch of satellites for Amazon, which is developing a constellation to deliver low-latency broadband Internet around the world. SpaceX, then, just launched a direct competitor to its Starlink network into orbit. And it was for the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who owns a rocket company of his own in Blue Origin.

So how did it come to this—Bezos and Elon Musk, competitors in so many ways, working together in space?

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Reddit says that it has caught AI companies scraping its data from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, so it's going to start blocking the Internet Archive from indexing the vast majority of Reddit. From a report: The Wayback Machine will no longer be able to crawl post detail pages, comments, or profiles; instead, it will only be able to index the Reddit.com homepage, which effectively means Internet Archive will only be able to archive insights into which news headlines and posts were most popular on a given day. "Internet Archive provides a service to the open web, but we've been made aware of instances where AI companies violate platform policies, including ours, and scrape data from the Wayback Machine," spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt tells The Verge.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Assuming the mask fits well and its filtration has been rigorously tested, N95 or KN95 respirators and surgical masks are some of the most protective face coverings you can buy. We’ve tried 39 models and confirmed the filtration claims of our favorites with government agencies or our own lab testing performed in collaboration with Colorado State University.

Here we recommend legitimate N95, KN95, and surgical masks available from trusted retailers.

In recent months, the AI industry has started moving toward so-called simulated reasoning models that use a "chain of thought" process to work through tricky problems in multiple logical steps. At the same time, recent research has cast doubt on whether those models have even a basic understanding of general logical concepts or an accurate grasp of their own "thought process." Similar research shows that these "reasoning" models can often produce incoherent, logically unsound answers when questions include irrelevant clauses or deviate even slightly from common templates found in their training data.

In a recent pre-print paper, researchers from the University of Arizona summarize this existing work as "suggest[ing] that LLMs are not principled reasoners but rather sophisticated simulators of reasoning-like text." To pull on that thread, the researchers created a carefully controlled LLM environment in an attempt to measure just how well chain-of-thought reasoning works when presented with "out of domain" logical problems that don't match the specific logical patterns found in their training data.

The results suggest that the seemingly large performance leaps made by chain-of-thought models are "largely a brittle mirage" that "become[s] fragile and prone to failure even under moderate distribution shifts," the researchers write. "Rather than demonstrating a true understanding of text, CoT reasoning under task transformations appears to reflect a replication of patterns learned during training."

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If you’ve ever scrambled out the door with your phone’s battery in the red, you know that power is precious, and the faster you can get it, the better. The Anker PowerPort III Nano is the best option for charging any phone fast: It’s tiny and inexpensive, and it can get a fully drained phone battery to more than 50% full in half an hour.

USB-C chargers can top up phones faster than older USB-A models can, and they work with both iPhones and Android devices. Most phones, handheld game consoles, and other devices that charge via USB-C come with a compatible charging cable, but otherwise you may have to buy a cable separately.

Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta are reeling from a deadly shooting that unfolded Friday evening.

The shooting left one local police officer dead, at least four agency buildings riddled with bullet holes, and terrified staffers feeling like "sitting ducks." Fortunately, no CDC staff or civilians were injured. But, it quickly drew a spotlight to US health secretary and zealous anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who critics accused of fueling the violence with his menacing and reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric.

Kennedy publicly responded to the shooting on social media at about 11 am Eastern Time on Saturday, roughly 18 hours after the event. Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams subsequently slammed Kennedy's delayed response as "tepid" in a critical essay published in Stat. The news outlet separately pointed out that Kennedy had posted on his personal social media account about 30 minutes prior to his response to the shooting, in which he shared pictures of a fishing trip.

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Conservative activist Robby Starbuck will serve as an advisor at Meta to address “ideological and political bias” within the company’s AI chatbot, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The move comes as part of a settlement Meta reached with Starbuck, who filed a lawsuit claiming Meta AI wrongly stated he was involved in the January 6th Capitol riot.

Starbuck has waged public pressure campaigns against companies that have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, with companies like Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson dropping their DEI efforts as a result. According to a lawsuit filed in April, Starbuck claims he discovered Meta AI’s false output after a Harley-Davidson dealer published a screenshot from Meta’s AI chatbot linking Starbuck to the Capitol riot and QAnon.

Now, following President Donald Trump’s executive order to make AI less “woke,” Starbuck will advise Meta on bias. “Since engaging on these important issues with Robby, Meta has made tremendous strides to improve the accuracy of Meta AI and mitigate ideological and political bias,” Meta and Starbuck said in a statement to the WSJ.

During an interview with CNBC, Starbuck declined to say whether Meta paid him to resolve the lawsuit. “I’m one person, but this could cause a lot of problems across the entire industry when it comes to elections and political bias, and we wanted to be leaders in solving this problem,” Starbuck said during the interview. Earlier this year, Meta paid $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the suspensions of his accounts.

Other people have attempted to file lawsuits alleging AI chatbot defamation. Conservative radio host Mark Walters filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2023, alleging that ChatGPT falsely stated that Walters was accused of embellishing funds from a non-profit organization. A judge granted summary judgment in favor of OpenAI and dismissed the defamation claim in May.

At some point, most kids need access to headphones, whether it’s for school, travel, or simply to save an adult’s sanity.

It can be tempting to give children a pair of hand-me-down grown-up headphones, but that isn’t the best option: Not only are the larger size and increased weight less comfortable for younger kids, but the unregulated loudness levels of most adult headphones can lead to permanent hearing damage.

Instead, we recommend that you get a good pair of volume-limiting kids headphones, and we have several picks for different uses.

Of course, volume-limiting headphones are merely one tool that can assist parents or caregivers in protecting a child’s hearing — they are not solutions by themselves. Several factors lead to noise-induced hearing loss, and reducing headphone volume is just one way you can protect a child’s hearing. But our picks, when used properly, should provide an added level of protection for kids’ ears, as well as peace of mind for you.

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• Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Kids Is a Growing Problem. Here’s How to Protect Little Ears.

  Noise-induced hearing loss is a growing problem for kids. It’s preventable, but you need to understand what causes it and take early preventive measures.

Former NSA and Cyber Command chief Paul Nakasone told the Defcon security conference this month that technology companies will find it "very, very difficult" to remain neutral through 2025 and 2026. Speaking with Defcon founder Jeff Moss in Las Vegas, Nakasone, now an OpenAI board member, addressed the intersection of technology and politics following the Trump administration's removal of cybersecurity officials deemed disloyal and revocation of security clearances for former CISA directors Chris Krebs and Jen Easterly. Nakasone also called ransomware "among the great scourges that we have in our country," stating the U.S. is "not making progress against ransomware."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I am a hash brown connoisseur, and there is absolutely a right and a wrong way to make them.

The best hash browns are objectively shreds (sorry, I don’t make the rules). After tinkering with frozen and pre-shredded options, I finally achieved Waffle House–level success with a humble box grater. The results were beautiful, crispy patties, made possible by a tool that formed optimal long, even shreds of potato.

During my quest for hash brown perfection, I also learned that there’s more than one way to grate a potato. Graters come in all shapes and sizes, from the standard box style to paddles and rotary drum graters. Each is uniquely suited to different needs and tasks.

We’ve tested 44 models since 2015, so we know what makes a grater, well, great. The Cuisipro 4 Sided Box Grater was the sharpest and most versatile box grater we tested, and it shredded cheeses, carrots, and potatoes with efficiency and ease.

Ahead of an August 12 deadline for a US-China trade deal, Donald Trump's tactics continue to confuse those trying to assess the country's national security priorities regarding its biggest geopolitical rival.

For months, Trump has kicked the can down the road regarding a TikTok ban, allowing the app to continue operating despite supposedly urgent national security concerns that China may be using the app to spy on Americans. And now, in the latest baffling move, a US official announced Monday that Trump got Nvidia and AMD to agree to "give the US government 15 percent of revenue from sales to China of advanced computer chips," Reuters reported. Those chips, about 20 policymakers and national security experts recently warned Trump, could be used to fuel China's frontier AI, which seemingly poses an even greater national security risk.

Trump’s “wild” deal with US chip firms

Reuters granted two officials anonymity to discuss Trump's deal with US chipmakers, because details have yet to be made public. Requiring US firms to pay for sales in China is an "unusual" move for a president, Reuters noted, and the Trump administration has yet to say what exactly it plans to do with the money.

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theodp writes: The New York Times reports from the CS grad job-seeking trenches: Growing up near Silicon Valley, Manasi Mishra remembers seeing tech executives on social media urging students to study computer programming. "The rhetoric was, if you just learned to code, work hard and get a computer science degree, you can get six figures for your starting salary," Ms. Mishra, now 21, recalls hearing as she grew up in San Ramon, Calif. Those golden industry promises helped spur Ms. Mishra to code her first website in elementary school, take advanced computing in high school and major in computer science in college. But after a year of hunting for tech jobs and internships, Ms. Mishra graduated from Purdue University in May without an offer. "I just graduated with a computer science degree, and the only company that has called me for an interview is Chipotle," Ms. Mishra said in a get-ready-with-me TikTok video this summer that has since racked up more than 147,000 views. Some graduates described feeling caught in an A.I. "doom loop." Many job seekers now use specialized A.I. tools like Simplify to tailor their resumes to specific jobs and autofill application forms, enabling them to quickly apply to many jobs. At the same time, companies inundated with applicants are using A.I. systems to automatically scan resumes and reject candidates.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

You don’t absolutely need a designated diaper bag to leave the house with a young child. But when you have a fully stocked bag at the ready, it’s much easier to get out the door and change your kid on the go.

We’ve tested 50 diaper bags since 2017, filling them with diapers, bottles, and snacks, and we found a variety of options that are well suited for people with different priorities and budgets. We recommend:

• a feature-rich, machine-washable backpack
• a minimally priced bag
• a tote pack that’s also a backpack and can be used long after the baby is out of diapers
• a luxurious, convertible diaper bag
• a roomy fanny pack
• a versatile portable changing pad that can turn any bag (like one of our tote bag picks, some of which are favorites among parents on staff) into a diaper bag

Whatever bag you use, keep in mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics and most stroller companies advise against hanging bags on stroller handlebars, due to tipping hazards (though most diaper bag makers — and many parents and caregivers — ignore this warning).

Everything we recommend

The JuJuBe Classic Diaper Backpack has handy features, such as a dedicated wipes pocket, an insulated bottle pocket, and a place for a changing pad. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterThe Ruvalino Diaper Bag Backpack’s 19 pockets include two main zippered sections, three front zippered pockets, and a zippered pocket on the back. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterPatagonia’s Terravia Tote Pack 24L looks similar to its predecessor, the Ultralight Black Hole Tote Pack (pictured). Both are made with a sturdy yet thin, lightweight nylon. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterThe Caraa Baby Bag is made with a lightweight, water-resistant nylon. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterBéis’s The Diaper Pack is roomy enough to hold the essentials for going out with a baby, yet it also lets you be hands-free. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterSkip Hop Pronto Portable Changing Pad includes everything needed for diapering, and it’s compact enough to tuck into a bag of your choice. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterThe JuJuBe Classic Diaper Backpack has handy features, such as a dedicated wipes pocket, an insulated bottle pocket, and a place for a changing pad. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter

It's easier than ever to manipulate video footage to deceive the viewer and increasingly difficult for fact checkers to detect such manipulations. Cornell University scientists developed a new weapon in this ongoing arms race: software that codes a "watermark" into light fluctuations, which in turn can reveal when the footage has been tampered with. The researchers presented the breakthrough over the weekend at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and published a scientific paper in June in the journal ACM Transactions on Graphics.

“Video used to be treated as a source of truth, but that’s no longer an assumption we can make,” said co-author Abe Davis, of Cornell University, who first conceived of the idea. “Now you can pretty much create video of whatever you want. That can be fun, but also problematic, because it’s only getting harder to tell what’s real.”

Per the authors, those seeking to deceive with video fakes have a fundamental advantage: equal access to authentic video footage, as well as the ready availability of advanced low-cost editing tools that can learn quickly from massive amounts of data, rendering the fakes nearly indistinguishable from authentic video. Thus far, progress on that front has outpaced the development of new forensic techniques designed to combat the problem. One key feature is information asymmetry: An effective forensic technique must have information not available to the fakers that cannot be learned from publicly available training data.

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There was a time, just 15 years ago, when owning selvedge denim jeans meant spending an arm and a leg before soaking them in the ocean, wearing them in the shower, literally going a year without washing them, or engaging in some other elaborate and inconvenient ritual that nudged the world of denim into something of a cult.

In the summer of 2010, I stood in a boutique in SoHo debating whether to spend an unconscionable sum of money on a pair of raw selvedge jeans that the salesperson had emphatically declared should be worn two sizes too small.

I didn’t buy them.

But the culture of raw selvedge jeans has changed since then — the cuts are more billowy, and no longer are you required to fit into the smallest size imaginable or go as long as possible without washing them. But the mystique surrounding selvedge denim remains, and if you’re shopping for a pair of jeans, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself wondering what selvedge denim is exactly, why it has to cost so much, and whether you need a pair.

Wirecutter has evaluated dozens of jeans over the years, and in our guide to the best men’s jeans, we have crowned six pairs as current favorites. Two of them are selvedge: Uniqlo’s Stretch Selvedge Slim jeans, which often retail for $50 or so, and 3sixteen’s CT-100x jeans, which retail for $250.

I tried both, setting out to answer one question: “What’s in a $250 pair of jeans?”

E Ink devices like the Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and B&N Nook line of products promise a book-like reading experience thanks to displays that mimic some of the properties of ink on paper. But one big difference? For the most part they’re about the size of a single page in a paperback book. Pick up an […]

The post This DIY eReader has dual E Ink displays for a more book-like reading experience appeared first on Liliputing.

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced Monday he will step down to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors, with Microsoft restructuring the subsidiary's leadership rather than appointing a direct replacement. Microsoft developer division head Julia Liuson will oversee GitHub's revenue, engineering and support operations, while chief product officer Mario Rodriguez will report to Microsoft AI platform VP Asha Sharma.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

China has begun construction of a $167 billion hydropower facility on Tibet's Yarlung Tsangpo River that would generate triple the output of the Three Gorges Dam. The project employs a run-of-the-river design, drilling deep tunnels through mountains to bypass the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, where the river drops nearly two vertical miles over 300 miles. Water diverted through the tunnels will drive turbines at both ends without creating a large reservoir. The river currently produces just 2% of its hydropower potential. A $7 billion transmission network will deliver electricity to Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macau. China imported nearly a quarter of its energy supply in 2023.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ford will debut a new midsize pickup truck in 2027 with a targeted price of $30,000, the automaker announced today. The as-yet unnamed pickup will be the first of a series of more affordable EVs from Ford, built using a newly designed flexible vehicle platform and US-made prismatic lithium iron phosphate batteries.

For the past few years, a team of Ford employees has been hard at work on the far side of the country from the Blue Oval's base in Dearborn, Michigan. Sequestered in Long Beach and taking inspiration from Lockheed's legendary "skunkworks," the Electric Vehicle Development Center approached designing and building Ford's next family of EVs as a clean-sheet problem, presumably taking inspiration from the Chinese EVs that have so impressed Ford's CEO.

It starts with a pickup

Designing an EV from the ground up, free of decades of legacy cruft, is a good idea, but not one unique to Ford. In recent months, we've reviewed quite a few so-called software-defined vehicles, which replace dozens or even hundreds of discrete single-function electronic control units with a handful of powerful modern computers (usually known as domain controllers) on a high-speed network.

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Later this summer, a fluorescent reddish-pink spiral will bloom across the Wilkinson Basin in the Gulf of Maine, about 40 miles northeast of Cape Cod. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will release the nontoxic water tracer dye behind their research vessel, where it will unfurl into a half-mile wide temporary plume, bright enough to catch the attention of passing boats and even satellites.

As it spreads, the researchers will track its movement to monitor a tightly controlled, federally approved experiment testing whether the ocean can be engineered to absorb more carbon, and in turn, help combat the climate crisis.

As the world struggles to stay below the 1.5° Celsius global warming threshold—a goal set out in the Paris Agreement to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change—experts agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions won’t be enough to avoid overshooting this target. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, published in 2023, emphasizes the urgent need to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere, too.

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The operator of Wikipedia on Monday lost a legal challenge to parts of Britain's Online Safety Act, which sets tough new requirements for online platforms and has been criticized for potentially curtailing free speech. From a report: The Wikimedia Foundation took legal action at London's High Court over regulations made under the law, which it said could impose the most stringent category of duties on Wikipedia. The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties -- which would require Wikipedia's users and contributors' identities to be verified -- it would need to drastically reduce the number of British users who can access the site. Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed its case on Monday, but said the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if regulator Ofcom "(impermissibly) concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service".

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

We have the first teaser for the second season of Netflix's live-action series adaptation of One Piece, subtitled Into the Grand Line. The streaming platform also released some first-look images and announced that the series has been renewed for a third season.

(Some spoilers for S1 below.)

As previously reported, the original One Piece manga debuted in 1997, following the adventures of one Monkey D. Luffy, who heads a motley crew called the Straw Hat Pirates. There's swordsman Roronoa Zoro, thief and navigator Nami, sniper and compulsive liar Usopp, and a cook named Sanji. They're searching for the legendary One Piece, a mythical treasure that would make anyone who possesses it King of the Pirates. Monkey wants to be the Pirate King, but so do a host of other pirates with their own ships and crews.

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The question of when life began on Earth is as old as human culture.

“It's one of these fundamental human questions: When did life appear on Earth?” said Professor Martin Whitehouse of the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

So when some apparently biological carbon was dated to at least 3.95 billion years ago—making it the oldest remains of life on Earth—the claim sparked interest and skepticism in equal measure, as Ars Technica reported in 2017.

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AOL is ending dial-up access next month, 34 years after launching the service that provided many Americans with their first (somewhat limited) taste of the internet. The surprising news here is that it hadn’t already happened… who uses dial-up or AOL in 2025? But it’s still an interesting footnote in the history of the internet. Here’s […]

The post Lilbits: AOL frees up your phone line by ending dial-up access appeared first on Liliputing.

Debian is a free and open source, Linux-based operating system that’s bee around for more than three decades. And computers have changed a lot in that time. So while Debian has a reputation for releasing updates on a slow, steady, and stable basis rather than pushing bleeding edge features, the operating system has made some major changes […]

The post Debian 13 “trixie” release brings RISC-V support plus to the popular GNU/Linux distro, plus thousands of other updates appeared first on Liliputing.

The first space race was about flags and footprints. Now, decades later, landing on the Moon is old news. The new race is to build there, and doing so hinges on power.

In April 2025, China reportedly unveiled plans to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2035. This plant would support its planned international lunar research station. The United States countered in August, when acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy reportedly suggested a US reactor would be operational on the Moon by 2030.

While it might feel like a sudden sprint, this isn’t exactly breaking news. NASA and the Department of Energy have spent years quietly developing small nuclear power systems to power lunar bases, mining operations, and long-term habitats.

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Two years ago, researchers in the Netherlands discovered an intentional backdoor in an encryption algorithm baked into radios used by critical infrastructure–as well as police, intelligence agencies, and military forces around the world–that made any communication secured with the algorithm vulnerable to eavesdropping.

When the researchers publicly disclosed the issue in 2023, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which developed the algorithm, advised anyone using it for sensitive communication to deploy an end-to-end encryption solution on top of the flawed algorithm to bolster the security of their communications.

But now the same researchers have found that at least one implementation of the end-to-end encryption solution endorsed by ETSI has a similar issue that makes it equally vulnerable to eavesdropping. The encryption algorithm used for the device they examined starts with a 128-bit key, but this gets compressed to 56 bits before it encrypts traffic, making it easier to crack. It’s not clear who is using this implementation of the end-to-end encryption algorithm, nor if anyone using devices with the end-to-end encryption is aware of the security vulnerability in them.

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Most adhesives can’t stick to wet surfaces because water and other fluids disrupt the adhesive’s bonding mechanisms. This problem, though, has been beautifully solved by evolution in remora suckerfish, which use an adhesive disk on top of their heads to attach to animals like dolphins, sharks, and even manta rays.

A team of MIT scientists has now taken a close look at these remora disks and reverse-engineered them. “Basically, we looked at nature for inspiration,” says Giovanni Traverso, a professor at MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering and senior author of the study.

Sticking Variety

Remora adhesive disks are an evolutionary adaptation of the fish’s first dorsal fin, the one that in other species sits on top of the body, just behind the head and gill covers. The disk rests on an intercalary backbone—a bone structure that most likely evolved from parts of the spine. This bony structure supports lamellae, specialized bony plates with tiny backward-facing spikes called spinules. The entire disk is covered with soft tissue compartments that are open at the top. “This makes the remora fish adhere very securely to soft-bodied, fast-moving marine hosts,” Traverso says.

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James Lovell, a member of humanity's first trip to the moon and commander of NASA's ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, has died at the age of 97.

Lovell's death on Thursday was announced by the space agency.

"NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in a statement on Friday. "Jim's character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount. We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements."

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When a Spinosaurus attacked a T. rex in Jurassic Park III, both giant carnivores tried to finish the fight with one powerful bite of their bone-crushing jaws. The Spinosaurus won, because when the movie was being made back in the early 2000s, fossil discoveries suggested it was the largest carnivorous dinosaur that ever lived. But new research provides evidence that size and weight didn’t always create a powerful bite.

“The Spinosaurus and the T. rex didn’t live at the same time at the same continent, but if they did, I don’t really see the Spinosaurus winning,” says Andre Rowe, a paleobiologist at the University of Bristol. He led a study analyzing the biomechanics of skulls belonging to the largest carnivorous dinosaurs. Based on his findings, T. rex was most likely was the apex predator we’ve always believed it to be. The story of other giant carnivorous dinosaurs, though, was a bit more complicated.

Staring down the giants

“Of the giant carnivore dinosaurs, T. rex is the one we know the most about because it has a pretty good fossil record,” Rowe says. There are many complete skulls which have already been scanned and analyzed, and this is how we know the T. rex had an extremely high bite force—one of the highest known in the animal kingdom. We have far fewer fossil records of other giant carnivores like Spinosaurus or Allosaurus, so we assumed they were similar to T. rex.

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Texas is gearing up for war as a savage, flesh-eating fly appears poised for a US invasion and is expanding its range of victims.

On Friday, the Texas Department of Agriculture announced the debut of TDA Swormlure, a synthetic bait designed to attract the flies with a scent that mimics open flesh wounds, which are critical to the lifecycle of the fly, called the New World Screwworm. The parasite exploits any open wound or orifice on a wide range of warm-blooded animals to feed its ravenous spawn. Female flies lay hundreds of eggs in even the tiniest abrasion. From there, screw-shaped larvae—which give the flies their name—emerge to literally twist and bore into their victim, eating them alive and causing a putrid, life-threatening lesion. (You can see a graphic example here on a deer.)

The new lure for the flies is just one of several defense efforts in Texas, which stands to suffer heavy livestock losses from an invasion. Screwworms are a ferocious foe to many animals, but are particularly devastating to farm animals.

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The Paper 7 is a new digital picture frame from Paperless Paper that has an E Ink color display, up to 6 months of battery life, and the ability to display photos or artwork sent from a smartphone or web browser. Available for pre-order for 189€ (about $220), the device is expected to ship this month. […]

The post Paper 7 is a digital picture frame with a 7 inch E Ink Spectra 6 color display appeared first on Liliputing.

CWWK has updated its line of “soft router” “or firewall appliance” mini PCs with new models powered by Intel Raptor Lake processors that come with a lot of high-speed networking ports. There’s a model with an Intel U300E processor and eight 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports, as well another model that has six LAN ports: four […]

The post This Intel Raptor Lake network appliance supports up to 8 x 2.5 Gb LAN ports (or 2 x 10 Gb and 4 x 2.5 Gb) appeared first on Liliputing.

The Luckfox Lyra Zero W is a Raspberry Pi Zero-shaped single-board computer that launched earlier this year as an inexpensive board featuring a triple-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor and a Cortex-M0 co-processor for low-power, low-latency jobs, making it a solution for embedded applications. Now the company has introduced a new board called the Lyra Pico Zero that’s the same […]

The post Luckfox Lyra Zero boards feature NPU or Cortex-M co-processor options, sell for under $20 appeared first on Liliputing.

Google has been trying to make the case for years that Chromebooks are more than just web browsers with keyboards and screens. And in 2022 the company introduced a new category of Chromebooks built for gaming, including models with high screen refresh rates, RGB backlit keyboards, and other premium features… including beta support for Valve’s […]

The post Google is pulling the plug on its Steam Beta for gaming on Chromebooks appeared first on Liliputing.

The VisionFive 2 Lite is a credit card-sized single-board computer (SBC) that looks a lot like a Raspberry Pi. But it’s actually a smaller, cheaper, and less powerful version of the VisionFive 2 RISC-V SBC that launched a few years ago. The new model has a slower version of the same processor and loses a few […]

The post StarFive VisionFive 2 Lite is a cheap(er) RISC-V single-board computer (crowdfunding) appeared first on Liliputing.

The GMK NucBox G9 is an impressively compact computer that’s designed for use as a network-attached storage device, thanks to its M.2 2280 slots for PCIe 3.0 x2 storage and dual 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports. When Ian reviewed the mini PC earlier this year he found that it offered decent performance, but that it could get […]

The post Xyber Hydra NAS is basically a GMK NucBox G9 with more RAM and better cooling (tiny NAS with four M.2 slots and Intel N150) appeared first on Liliputing.

Samsung’s Android tablets are largely divided into the Galaxy Tab S line of premium devices and Galaxy Tab A line of budget devices. But every few years the company puts out a cheaper Galaxy S series device that offers some premium features like an S Pen while cutting some corners to keep the prices low. […]

The post Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite leaks point to a cheaper 10 inch tablet appeared first on Liliputing.

President Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs of 100% on semiconductors entering the United States, which could dramatically drive up the price of computers, phones, cars, and a wide range of products that rely on those chips. There is a carveout for companies that have committed to manufacturing chips in the United States. With Apple […]

The post Lilbits: 100% tariffs on semiconductor chips, Copilot for PC gaming, and better touchpad support for Android appeared first on Liliputing.

Best Buy is running a sale on Amazon Fire tablets and Kindle eReaders that makes them cheaper to buy from Best Buy than Amazon at the moment. In fact, the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is on sale for $180, which is the lowest price ever for Amazon’s first Kindle with an E Ink color display. […]

The post Daily Deals (8-06-2025) appeared first on Liliputing.

The credit card-sized Raspberry Pi Model B line of computers may be small, at just 85 x 56mm. But the Raspberry Compute Module 5 is even smaller, measuring just 55 x 40mm. Unfortunately this tiny computer-on-a-module isn’t much use on its own, because it lacks the full-sized ports you’d need to connect a power source, […]

The post CM5 MINIMA is a tiny $65 Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board with M.2, Ethernet, and HDMI appeared first on Liliputing.

Earlier this year Adafruit introduced a credit card-sized computer called the Fruit Jam. It’s the size of a typical Raspberry Pi Model B, but it’s powered by a low-power Raspberry Pi RP2350B microcontroller. This weekend the company announced that the Fruit Jam was available for purchase for $40. Only a few units were available at […]

The post Fruit Jam credit card-sized PC with an RP2350B chip launches for $40 appeared first on Liliputing.

PCI-SIG has announced plans to release the PCIe 8.0 specification to members by 2028, offering support for data transfer speeds up to 256 GT/s in terms of raw bit rates, and up to 1TB/s of bi-directional speed when used in a x16 configuration. Given how long it takes for new PCIe standards to roll out, […]

The post PCIe 8.0 to be up to 16 times faster than PCIe 4.0 appeared first on Liliputing.

Over the past few days I’ve spotted a bunch of mini PCs from Chinese brands that are using a new processor based on slightly older technology. The AMD Ryzen 7 H 255 processor is an 8-core, 16-thread chip that’s made for the Chinese market, but which is showing up in mini PCs shipped to customers globally. The […]

The post AMD Ryzen 7 H 255 is a mid-range Hawk Point chip for laptops & mini PCs appeared first on Liliputing.

The Argon ONE UP is a laptop with a 14 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD display, an aluminum body, backlit keyboard, and one thing that sets it apart from most other laptops: the Argon ONE UP is powered by a removable Raspberry Pi CM5 computer module. Argon40 has been making Raspberry Pi accessories like […]

The post Argon ONE UP hits Kickstarter for $330 and up (Raspberry Pi CM5-powered laptop) appeared first on Liliputing.

The Particle Tachyon is a single-board computer that’s about the same size as a Raspberry Pi 5 and it even has a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin GPIO header. But Particle positions the Tachyon as a versatile little PC with the guts of “a modern smartphone.” That’s because it’s powered by a Qualcomm QCM6490 Dragonwing processor with 8 Kryo […]

The post Particle Tachyon 5G single-board PC now available for $299 appeared first on Liliputing.

E Ink displays are often used in eBook readers or digital signage thanks to their low power consumption and paper-like qualities. But most devices with E Ink displays have low screen refresh rates that make them awkward fits for video playback or other high-motion graphics. While we’ve seen a few smartphones, tablets, and monitors with […]

The post Modos Paper Dev Kit cranks E Ink monitor refresh rates up to 75 Hz (crowdfunding) appeared first on Liliputing.

This article takes a closer look at the NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE500 WiFi Router.'s performance, specs and features. Also at reviews, tests and sales.

The post NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE500 Product Guide: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.

The Archer AXE75 is a capable tri-band, good performing Wifi 6 router

The post The TP-Link Archer AXE75 a Product Guide appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.

SmallNetBuilder Tools are here to help you find the perfect wireless routers, NASes and other networking products. Compare and research product performance with our Charts. Router (old Charts) Wi-Fi Router NAS Wireless Wi-Fi System / Mesh Wireless Adapter / Bridge Wireless Extender Powerline Search for products by features with our Finders. Router (old Finder) Wi-Fi ... Read more

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Is a sub-$100 Wi-Fi 6 router worth buying? We look at three examples to find out.

The post Three Wi-Fi 6 Routers Under $100 Reviewed appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.

We round-up ASUS' ZenWiFi 6E ET8, WiFi 6 ZenWiFi XT8 and WiFi 5/6 RT-AX92U into the ol' test corral for a ride.

The post ASUS Mesh Roundup: Two Zens and a TriBand appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.

Linksys' Atlas Max 6E Wi-Fi Mesh System is the most expensive Wi-Fi mesh system you can buy, but save your money.

The post Linksys MX8500 Atlas Max 6E Wi-Fi Mesh System Reviewed appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.

Our new Wi-Fi Mesh System test process adds latency and multiband testing.

The post How We Test Wi-Fi Mesh Systems – Revision 2 appeared first on SmallNetBuilder.