News

In 3.5 years, Notepad.exe has gone from “barely maintained” to “it writes for you”
In November, Microsoft began testing an update that allowed users to rewrite or summarize text in Notepad using generative AI. Another preview update today takes it one step further, allowing you to ...
The Pentagon seems to be fed up with ULA’s rocket delays
ULA retired its Delta IV Heavy rocket in April 2024, and the handful of Atlas V rockets that remain are committed to other missions. This has left the Air Force dependent on SpaceX, with its Falcon 9 ...
Why console makers can legally brick your game console
While console makers routinely ban players and consoles from online play and services, remotely bricking a game console's offline capabilities for EULA violations seems exceedingly rare in practice.
Glass redux: Google aims to avoid past mistakes as it brings Gemini to your face
It's been 13 years since Google announced its Google Glass headset and 10 years since it stopped selling the device to ...
Musk’s DOGE used Meta’s Llama 2—not Grok—for gov’t slashing, report says
Wired reviewed materials showing that affiliates of Elon Musk's DOGE working in the Office of Personnel Management "tested and used Meta’s Llama 2 model to review and classify responses from federal ...
Topic: azure ai
Grok apparently wasn't an option. Grok apparently wasn't an option. Grok apparently wasn't an option.
Topic: e-bike battery
Ars Technica has been separating the signal from the noise for over 25 years. With our unique combination of technical savvy ...
Gouach wants you to insert and pluck the cells from its Infinite e-bike battery
E-bike batteries are, for the most part, a collection of 18650 batteries, packaged together and welded in series and parallel, attached to a battery management system (BMS). A "dead" e-bike battery ...
Destructive malware available in NPM repo went unnoticed for 2 years
Researchers have found malicious software that received more than 6,000 downloads from the NPM repository over a two-year span, in yet another discovery showing the hidden threats users of such open ...
Topic: read it later
Ars Technica has been separating the signal from the noise for over 25 years. With our unique combination of technical savvy ...
Federal regulators clear SpaceX for Starship test flight as soon as next week
The Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light Thursday for SpaceX to launch the next test flight of its Starship mega-rocket as soon as next week, following two consecutive failures earlier ...
Planet found orbiting backward between two stars
The lone planet confirmed to be in the system is squeezed in between the two, orbiting at a distance similar to Earth's distance from the Sun. And, as an added bonus, the planet is orbiting backward ...