This is a video documenting Youtuber The Lab-X’s quest to build an AI-powered water turret to keep his cat Cookie off the kitchen counter. The 3D printed bot, named Puffy, uses computer-vision to track the cat’s movement and spray him when he’s detected on the counter. Lab-X plans to sell build-it-yourself kits and assembled units in the future if you’re interested. Over the course of six weeks, Cookie, who is far more calm than my cats (but equally stubborn) took fewer and fewer sprays to get down. Eventually, just the sound of Puffy opening was enough to deter him. How about that! Alternatively, keep your cats off the kitchen counters the same way I do: not having counters. Plus I don’t have to open drawers, I can just reach right in there for a spoon. “Do you rent or own?” Right now I’m squatting.

Last week, Apple finally admitted it will need to team up with Google to finally make good on that contextual Siri promise it made two years ago, which would have allowed the virtual assistant to integrate with content like your texts or emails to answer personal questions and take actions for you. Now, according to a new report, the iPhone company might actually go one step further and turn Siri into a full-fledged AI chatbot—one on par with the likes of ChatGPT, and perhaps even more sophisticated.

Currently, Siri has AI implementation, but only technically, and it’s certainly underwhelming: You can use it to get tech support on Apple products or shunt questions off to ChatGPT, but otherwise, Siri basically works as it always has. But according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has reliably reported on insider information at Apple before, the company is finally not only looking to make Siri smarter, but also change the way you interact with it. Currently planned for iOS and macOS 27 under the name “Campos,” Siri’s new chatbot interface will still be powered by Gemini, but will allow you to both type and talk to Siri, with full continuity between your conversations. This upgrade will be in addition to the overdue features that were already announced.

In other words, it’ll look something like the chatbot interface from the ChatGPT app or the standalone Gemini app. Yes, you can technically type to Siri right now, but it mostly works like a separate input method, rather than as a full conversation. You can’t scroll through your previous questions to Siri or peruse the assistant’s previous answers, and if you ask Siri to reference a message you sent it two weeks ago, it’ll have no idea what you mean. That’s far behind what other AI chatbots offer right now.

The update will also apparently further expand Siri’s capabilities even beyond the contextual or personalization upgrades that were already revealed. Gurman says that, while the contextual upgrades will be able to pull information from other apps like Messages, the chatbot-style Siri will be “integrated into all of the company’s core apps, including ones for mail, music, podcasts, TV, Xcode programming software and photos.” Essentially, Siri will have more access to your iPhone than other AI chatbots, and those integrations will go beyond what was previously promised. That could make it more or less appealing to you, depending on your tastes in AI integration.

When the new Siri could arrive

With the chatbot interface planned for iOS 27, it’s likely to come after the contextual upgrades, rather than at the same time. That’s because, as Gurman said previously, those upgrades are set for the spring. He predicts we’ll learn more about it during this year’s WWDC, which, if it follows the standard set by previous years, will take place in June.

The move to turn Siri into a chatbot could come across as a a much-overdue modernization, as Google has already done the same with Gemini over on Android, but it’s also a bit of a surprise, as Apple had previously said it did not intend to turn Siri into a “bolt-on chatbot on the side” for Apple Intelligence.

But Apple was likely talking about quality of the experience rather than expressing any significant anti-chatbot bias among the development team, meaning the fact that Siri is turning into a chatbot could mean the company is finally happy with the direction it’s headed. But it’s also possible that the professed skepticism about turning Siri into a chatbot was meant to appeal to AI skeptics in general. Unfortunately, if you’re still skeptical about AI, it currently seems like iOS 27 will be a boring update for you, as Gurman indicated the new Siri chatbot will be the “primary new addition” to the operating system.

However you feel about it personally, Siri as a full-fledged AI chatbot could seriously upset ChatGPT’s market dominance—ironic, given its early integration with Apple Intelligence. Currently, OpenAI has reportedly admitted it’s in a Code Red situation, as it is losing market share to Google and introducing ads to bolster its bottom line. The new Siri, being powered by Gemini, is unlikely to hurt Google (although it will have more access to your phone than the standalone Gemini app), but its ease-of-access might make it the new go-to for iPhone users, and that could hurt pretty much every AI company Apple isn’t in business with directly.

In a small clinical trial, customized mRNA vaccines against high-risk skin cancers appeared to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and death by nearly 50 percent over five years when compared with standard treatment alone. That’s according to Moderna and Merck, the two pharmaceutical companies that have collaborated on the experimental cancer vaccine, called intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157 or V940).

So far, the companies have only reported the top-line results in a press release this week. However, the results align closely with previous, more detailed analyses from the trial, which examined rates of recurrence and death at earlier time points, specifically at two years and three years after the treatment. More data from the trial—a Phase 2 trial—will soon be presented at a medical conference, the companies said. A Phase 3 trial is also underway, with enrollment complete.

The ongoing Phase 2 trial included 157 patients who were diagnosed with stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma and were at high risk of having it recur after surgical removal. A standard treatment to prevent recurrence after such surgery is immunotherapy, including Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab). This drug essentially enables immune cells, specifically T cells, to attack and kill cancer cells—something they normally do. But, in many types of cancers, including melanoma, cancer cells have the ability to bind to receptors on T cells (called PD-1 receptors), which basically shuts the T cells down. Keytruda works by physically blocking the PD-1 receptors, preventing cancer cells from binding and keeping the T cells activated so they can kill the cancer.

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Nova Launcher has been acquired by Instabridge, which says it will keep the app maintained but is evaluating ad-supported options for the free version. Android Authority reports: Today, Nova Launcher announced that the Swedish company Instabridge has acquired it from Branch Metrics. Instabridge claims it wants to be a responsible owner of Nova and does not want to reinvent the launcher overnight. However, the launcher still needs a sustainable business model to support ongoing development and maintenance. To this end, Instabridge is exploring different options, including paid tiers and ad-supported options for the free version. The new owners claim that if ads are introduced, Nova Prime will remain ad-free. However, this is misleading, as ads are already here for some users. Last year, the founder and original programmer of Nova Launcher left the company, signaling its “death” as he had been the sole developer working on the launcher for the past year.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: The Belarusian government is threatening three HAM radio operators with the death penalty, detained at least seven people, and has accused them of “intercepting state secrets,” according to Belarusian state media, independent media outside of Belarus, and the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna. The arrests are an extreme attack on what is most often a wholesome hobby that has a history of being vilified by authoritarian governments in part because the technology is quite censorship resistant.

The detentions were announced last week on Belarusian state TV, which claimed the men were part of a network of more than 50 people participating in the amateur radio hobby and have been accused of both “espionage” and “treason.” Authorities there said they seized more than 500 pieces of radio equipment. The men were accused on state TV of using radio to spy on the movement of government planes, though no actual evidence of this has been produced. State TV claimed they were associated with the Belarusian Federation of Radioamateurs and Radiosportsmen (BFRR), a long-running amateur radio club and nonprofit that holds amateur radio competitions, meetups, trainings, and forums. Siarhei Besarab, a Belarusian HAM radio operator, posted a plea for support from others in the r/amateurradio subreddit. “I am writing this because my local community is being systematically liquidated in what I can only describe as a targeted intellectual genocide,” Besarab wrote. “I beg you to amplify this signal and help us spread this information. Please show this to any journalist you know, send it to human rights organizations, and share it with your local radio associations.”

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So many things can go wrong with your home at any given moment—and those problems won’t exactly wait for you to be prepared to deal with them before they hit. Plus, they often happen when it’s difficult or impossible to get a professional to come help you—like during storms, or in the middle of the night.

If you wake up to a burst pipe or a leaking roof and you can’t get a pro to come for a while, you don’t want to be powerless in your efforts to stave off further disaster. Having a basic set of tools is a great start, but you need to keep a few more items on hand if you truly want to be able to respond with a quick fix. Here’s the short list of everything you should have in your home in case you need to do some emergency repairs.

Essential items for plumbing emergencies

Water is incredibly destructive, and leaks that seem minor can do major damage to your house. Making sure you have basic tools like wrenches and knowing where the water shutoffs are in your house is essential, but here are a few more items that can hep you respond to emergencies:

• Snake auger. A plunger will take care of a clogged drain or toilet (and if you lack a plunger, don’t forget you can use a garbage bag on the toilet in a pinch), but if plunging doesn’t stop the water’s inexorable rise, you need to have a snake auger on hand. It’s a simple tool that anyone can operate, and it will break up most clogs pretty quickly, potentially averting disaster.

• Battery powered pumps. You may already have a sump pump installed to keep things dry in your basement and crawl space. If the power goes out, however, your sump won’t do you much good. And battery backup power typically doesn’t last long, so having a cordless transfer pump could be a lifesaver. Even something like a DrillPump (for $17) can stave off a flood long enough to get a professional in there.

• Pipe clamps. Water pipes always seem to burst at the worst possible time—and shutting off the water to the whole house isn’t ideal if you have to wait a few days for a plumber. Having a few pipe repair clamps on hand will get you through those days. These clamps are pretty simple: You just slip them onto the pipe and tighten the clamp until the leak is sealed by the rubber backing. This fix won’t last forever, but it will probably let you keep the water on for a few days while you sort out a more permanent repair.

Handy items for roofing emergencies

Roof leaks often stay hidden until a bad storm suddenly reveals them—and roof repairs have to wait until the weather clears. Here’s what you need if your roof starts leaking at the worst possible moment:

• Roof cement. Roof cement (like the Henry 208R) can be a lifesaver. If you notice that your roof has obvious damage, or it has leaked recently, applying a layer of roof cement to the affected area is a fast, easy repair that will keep the water out until you can do something more permanent.

• Tarp. A durable tarp is useful in a lot of emergencies, but essential for a surprise roof leak. Along with some plastic-cap nails, you’ll be able to quickly cover any damaged section of your roof and keep things as dry as possible until a roofer can make an assessment. Tarping a roof isn’t hard, though you should always use extreme caution when on your roof—especially if it’s raining.

Other items to deal with miscellaneous house emergencies

There are a bunch more things you might not need every day, but should have on hand in case of emergency:

• Spray sealant. Clear waterproof sealant spray can be used to seal off cracked windows, minor roof damage, and anything else that suddenly starts leaking.

• Zip ties. These plastic ties are incredibly useful because they’re easy to deploy quickly, can be linked together, and are strong enough for most temporary repairs when you need to hold things together. They can even be fashioned into a DIY drain cleanout tool in a pinch if you don’t have that snake auger.

• Duct tape and electrical tape. No, duct tape can’t fix everything, but this strong, sticky tape can temporarily fix tools, hold stuff together, stop minor leaks—and, yes, seal up broken ductwork. Electrical tape is essential if you’re going to attempt any DIY electrical repair, whether it’s braiding wires together, covering exposed wire when the insulation has worn off, or securing a loose connection.

• Plastic sheeting. Plastic sheeting is useful when a tarp is too heavy and cumbersome. It can be used in just about any application where you want to keep water or the weather out of a space, like covering a broken window in a storm or on the floors under a roof leak.

• Super glue. Super glue is useful stuff—it can bond just about anything, and it can even be used to seal small leaks in pipes in a pinch.

• Twine. Having some strong twine rope will definitely come in handy. It can be used to lash things down, to reinforce repairs and connections, to tie down a tarp, or in a million other ways.

• Bucket. The classic 5-gallon bucket has so many uses you probably already have one—but if you don’t, it’s time to pick one up. Catching leaks, hauling debris, water, or even tools, mixing—they can even be used as ersatz step stools in a pinch.

• Multitool. You have a whole set of hand and power tools, but when an emergency strikes, you don’t always have the time to gather everything you need. Having a high-quality multitool gives you a range of tools in your pocket, letting you get to fixing things immediately without delay.

The Federal Communications Commission today issued a warning to late-night and daytime talk shows, saying these shows may no longer qualify for an exemption to the FCC’s equal-time rule. Because the FCC is chaired by vocal Trump supporter Brendan Carr, changing how the rule is enforced could pressure shows into seeking out more interviews with Republican candidates.

The public notice providing what the FCC calls “guidance on political equal opportunities requirement for broadcast television stations” appears to be part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged liberal bias on broadcast TV. Carr, who has eroded the FCC’s historical independence from the White House, previously pressured ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel and threatened ABC’s The View with the equal-time rule.

The Carr FCC’s public notice today said that federal rules “prevent broadcast television stations, which have been given access to a valuable public resource (namely, spectrum), from unfairly putting their thumbs on the scale for one political candidate or set of candidates over another.” These rules come from “the decision by Congress that broadcast television stations have an obligation to operate in the public interest—not in any narrow partisan, political interest,” the Carr FCC said.

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I’ve never managed to get on board with any hydration trackers. I’ll log the foods I eat, the exercise I do, but drinks just happen. Did I have one glass of water or two with lunch? Hell if I know. Not to mention that your hydration depends on all the H₂O you take in, not just the glasses of plain water. You can hydrate with soup, with Diet Coke, or with slices of watermelon. Most hydration apps forget this, but even if they don’t, that just makes logging even more complicated.

That’s why I was intrigued by the P Water app for iPhone and Apple Watch. It tracks exactly what you’d expect from the name. I’ve been using it for about a week, and so far, I’m a fan. I tap a button on my Apple Watch when I’m heading to the bathroom, and between pit stops, I can drink whatever I want without measuring or logging any of it. If it’s been a few hours since my last bathroom trip, the app will prompt me to drink water.

This approach means that I get full credit for the water in my soup and Diet Coke, because it’s still hydrating me, and my internal hydration level is still triggering my bathroom trips. I spend a total of about 30 seconds each day thinking about the app, and I measure nothing. This is ideal for me.

Why it makes sense to track urination rather than water intake

The developers of P Water were not the first to think of tracking water output rather than input. You may have noted this approach is sometimes used in medical settings, and as a new parent I remember being asked how many wet diapers my newborn was producing each day. 

P Water cites research showing that counting up the number of times you urinate per day can give a reasonably good estimate of how hydrated you are. For example, this study on healthy young men concludes that “[Void frequency] is a reliable index of 24-[hour] hydration status” so long as bathroom visits come at a consistent “urgency”—in other words, if you sometimes go when you don’t really have to, but sometimes hold it a long time, your pee count will be less reliable as a hydration indicator. That much is pretty obvious. 

Tracking output rather than input accounts for not just different sources of water in your diet, but also different hydration needs. For example, the “eight glasses of water a day” rule was never a particularly good one, especially when you consider that people come in different sizes and may have different activity levels. 

That said, if you have a need to monitor your exact hydration, an app like P Water won’t necessarily do everything you need it to do. Medical providers often ask for specific amounts when they have people do what they call a “voiding diary.” But for a general sense of whether you’re hydrating enough that you’re peeing a normal amount, P Water seems to be a convenient tool. 

How to use the P Water app (with or without an Apple Watch)

While it’s convenient to use P Water on an Apple Watch, it also works as a regular iPhone app. The full app has some convenient actions, like having a “log a pee” option when you long-press the home screen icon or when you swipe down to see Siri suggestions.

I only used the app’s most basic features—logging bathroom visits, basically—but there’s more in the settings. You can enter notes for each pee, or even use a “stealth mode” that removes the word “pee” entirely. (On the other hand, you can also lean in and ask it to use the word “piss.”) While the core functions are mostly free, some of these bonuses, like stealth mode, require a subscription ($4.99/month or $39.99/year). 

New research from Cornell University has tracked how households change their spending after someone starts taking GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, and the numbers are material enough to explain why food industry earnings calls keep blaming everything except the obvious culprit.

The study analyzed transaction data from 150,000 households linked to survey responses on medication adoption. Households cut grocery spending by 5.3% within six months of a member starting GLP-1s; high-income households cut by 8.2%. Fast food spending fell 8.0%. Savory snacks took the biggest hit at 10.1%, followed by sweets and baked goods. Yogurt was the only category to see a statistically significant increase.

As of July 2024, 16.3% of U.S. households had at least one GLP-1 user. Nearly half of adopters reported taking the medication specifically for weight loss rather than diabetes management. About 34% of users discontinue within the sample period, and when they stop, candy and chocolate purchases rise 11.4% above pre-adoption levels.

Further reading: Weighing the Cost of Smaller Appetites.

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Marshall plans to add seamless multi-room audio to its Bluetooth speakers via a newly announced music streaming hub called Heddon. The $300 hub makes it possible to connect and synchronize multiple older Marshall speakers together, not unlike Sonos’ audio devices.

Rather than use Wi-Fi to get multiple speakers playing the same audio, though, the Marshall Heddon uses Auracast. The hub connects to services like Spotify Connect or Tidal over Wi-Fi, or other devices through Google Cast and AirPlay, and then shares that audio over Auracast to the Marshall Acton III, Stanmore III and Wobrun III speakers. You can control playback over a connected Marshall app and the Heddon also has RCA ports to connect other speakers or a record player to the system.

Because the Heddon requires a Wi-Fi connection, Marshall says it could add features to the system over-time, but even in the short term, the hub should meaningfully extend the life of the company’s speakers. Rather than switch to newer models with built-in Wi-Fi, you can just grab a Heddon. Sonos offers similar functionality through its Sonos Port and Sonos Amp accessories, and third-party hubs from companies like WiiM can add even more options. The Marshall Heddon is more streamlined in comparison, but if you’re already invested in the company’s speakers, or planning to build out your audio system with them, the hub could be a helpful tool to have.

The Marshall Heddon is available to purchase now for $300. Marshall says that customers purchasing an Acton III, Stanmore III or Woburn III can get a Heddon at half price, and the hub is included for free when you buy two or more eligible Marshall home speakers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/marshalls-new-heddon-hub-adds-multi-room-audio-to-speakers-with-auracast-210500811.html?src=rss

For a lot of the games I’ve written about in the C:ArsGames series, I’ve come to the conclusion that the games hold up pretty well, despite their age—Master of Orion II, Jill of the Jungle, and Wing Commander Privateer, for example. Each of those have flaws that show now more than ever, but I still had a blast revisiting each of them.

This time I’d like to write about one that I think doesn’t hold up quite as well for me: For the first time in almost 30 years, I revisited the original Tomb Raider via 2024’s Tomb Raider I-III Remastered collection.

You might be thinking this is going to be a dunk on the work done on the remaster, but that’s not the case, because the core issue with playing 1996’s Tomb Raider in 2026 is actually unsolvable, no matter how much care is put into a remaster.

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Apple has been spinning its wheels for many months over its approach to artificial intelligence, but a strategy finally appears to be emerging for the company. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported today that Apple’s long-awaited Siri overhaul will allegedly involve transforming the voice assistant into an AI chatbot, internally called Campos. 

Sources have reportedly told Gurman that Apple chatbot will completely replace the current Siri interface in favor of a more interactive model similar to those used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. He also cited sources who claimed that while Apple has been testing a standalone Campos app, the company doesn’t plan to release it for customers. Instead, the new chatbot will emphasize deep software integrations when it rolls out, reportedly as part of the iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 wave late next year. However, there will reportedly be a new features for the current iteration Siri coming in the iOS 26.4. Those additions will include the much-delayed updates Apple first promised for the platform back in 2024.

Pivoting to a chatbot gives some additional context to Apple’s recent move to collaborate with frequent rival Google; the companies announced earlier in January that Gemini models will be used to power the upcoming versions of Siri. Gemini has become ubiquitous in the Google ecosystem, and it makes sense for Apple to leverage outside help in this segment where it has already been trailing its competitors. 

 Although Apple may not have a standalone app for its Siri chatbot, the company does appear to be considering new places to host its AI resource. Additional reports today claimed that 2027 could also see the release of a wearable AI pin.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-is-reportedly-overhauling-siri-to-be-an-ai-chatbot-205303818.html?src=rss

Apple will reportedly try to succeed where Humane failed (miserably). On Wednesday, The Information reported that the iPhone maker is working on an AI pin. The wearable is said to resemble a slightly thicker AirTag and include multiple cameras, a speaker, microphones, and wireless charging.

The report coincides with another from Bloomberg that claims that Apple will revamp Siri as a ChatGPT-style chatbot. When combined with the recent announcement that Google’s Gemini will power Siri AI, it looks like the company is finally making a more defined play for a piece of the generative AI pie. On the other hand, the wearable pin is reportedly only in the very early stages and could still be canceled.

The pin is described as a thin, flat, circular disc with an aluminum and glass exterior. It includes two cameras (standard and wide-angle) for taking photos and videos of the user’s surroundings. It also has three microphones. It includes a speaker and a physical button along one edge. It has a magnetic inductive charging interface, similar to the Apple Watch’s charging mechanism.

Given the way Apple markets itself as a privacy-focused company, it will be interesting to see how the company pitches the public on what sounds like an incognito recording device. Although on that note, the App Store still hosts the Grok app, which egregiously violates privacy by generating nearly-nude deepfakes of real people — despite Apple’s rules explicitly prohibiting such apps.

The Information says Apple could release its AI pin as early as 2027. The company sounds confident in the device’s appeal, as it reportedly plans to produce around 20 million units at launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-is-reportedly-developing-a-wearable-ai-pin-204705065.html?src=rss

Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed. The Guardian: Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of “sabotaging climate action” and “being on the wrong side of history” but said the emissions data was increasingly being used to hold the companies accountable.

State-owned fossil fuel producers made up 17 of the top 20 emitters in the Carbon Majors report, which the authors said underscored the political barriers to tackling global heating. All 17 are controlled by countries that opposed a proposed fossil fuel phaseout at the Cop30 UN climate summit in December, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and India. More than 80 other nations had backed the phaseout plan.

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