Fun and functional transportation? See why these bikes are all the rage. Credit: Aurich Lawson | John Timmer Credit: Aurich Lawson | John Timmer Are you a millennial parent who...
Mario Kart World’s $80 price isn’t that high, historically
We assembled data for those game baskets across 21 non-consecutive years, going back to 1982, then normalized the nominal prices to consistent February 2025 dollars using the Bureau of Labor...
“The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s influence tactics.
A leak of 190,000 chat messages traded among members of the Black Basta ransomware group shows that it’s a highly structured and mostly efficient organization staffed by personnel with expertise...
Fewer beans = great coffee if you get the pour height right
Based on their findings, the authors recommend pouring hot water over your coffee grounds slowly to give the beans more time immersed in the water. But pour the water too...
Twitch makes deal to escape Elon Musk suit alleging X ad boycott conspiracy
Instead, it appears that X decided to sue Twitch after discovering that Twitch was among advertisers who directly referenced the WFA’s brand safety guidelines in its own community guidelines and...
Victory for DOGE as appeals court reinstates access to personal data
A US appeals court ruled yesterday that DOGE can access personal data held by the US Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management (OPM), overturning an order issued by...
Carmack defends AI tools after Quake fan calls Microsoft AI demo “disgusting”
The current generative Quake II demo represents a slight advancement from Microsoft’s previous generative AI gaming model (confusingly titled “WHAM” with only one “M”) we covered in February. That earlier...
AI 2027: Responses
Yesterday I covered Dwarkesh Patel’s excellent podcast coverage of AI 2027 with Daniel Kokotajlo and Scott Alexander. Today covers the reactions of others. Kevin Roose in The New York Times....
A military satellite waiting to launch with ULA will now fly with SpaceX
For the second time in six months, SpaceX will deploy a US military satellite that was sitting in storage, waiting for a slot on United Launch Alliance’s launch schedule. Space...
Framework “temporarily pausing” some laptop sales because of new tariffs
Framework, the designers and sellers of the modular and repairable Framework Laptop 13 and other products, announced today that it would be “temporarily pausing US sales” on some of its...
Nintendo explains why Switch 2 hardware and software cost so much
Things just cost more now In justifying the $450 price of the Switch 2, Nintendo executives predictably pointed to the system’s upgraded hardware specs, as well as new features like...
FreeDOS 1.4 brings new fixes and features to modern and vintage DOS-based PCs
We’re used to updating Windows, macOS, and Linux systems at least once a month (and usually more), but people with ancient DOS-based PCs still get to join in the fun...
Meta’s surprise Llama 4 drop exposes the gap between AI ambition and reality
Meta constructed the Llama 4 models using a mixture-of-experts (MoE) architecture, which is one way around the limitations of running huge AI models. Think of MoE like having a large...
De-extinction company announces that the dire wolf is back
On Monday, biotech company Colossal announced what it views as its first successful de-extinction: the dire wolf. These large predators were lost during the Late Pleistocene extinctions that eliminated many...
Balatro yet again subject to mods’ poor understanding of “gambling”
Balatro is certainly habit-forming, but there’s nothing to be won or lost, other than time, by playing it. While the game has you using standard playing cards and poker hands...
Google’s AI Mode search can now answer questions about images
Google started cramming AI features into search in 2024, but last month marked an escalation. With the release of AI Mode, Google previewed a future in which searching the web...
Trump gives China one day to end retaliations or face extra 50% tariffs
China expects to outlast US in trade war, alarming Big Tech. Tech companies’ worst nightmare ahead of Donald Trump’s election has already come true, as the US and China are...
Paramount drops action-packed Mission: Impossible—Final Reckoning trailer
Tom Cruise is back for what may (or may not) be his final turn as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible—Final Reckoning. After giving CinemaCon attendees a sneak peek last week,...
AI 2027: Dwarkesh’s Podcast with Daniel Kokotajlo and Scott Alexander
Daniel Kokotajlo has launched AI 2027, Scott Alexander introduces it here. AI 2027 is a serious attempt to write down what the future holds. His ‘What 2026 Looks Like’ was...
How did eastern North America form?
Collisions hold lessons for how the edges of continents are built and change over time. When Maureen Long talks to the public about her work, she likes to ask her...