An old school ransomware attack has a new twist: threatening to feed data to AI companies so it’ll be added to LLM datasets. 404 Media reports: Artists&Clients is a website that connects independent artists with interested clients. Around August 30, a message appeared on Artists&Clients attributed to the ransomware group LunaLock. “We have breached the website Artists&Clients to steal and encrypt all its data,” the message on the site said, according to screenshots taken before the site went down on Tuesday. “If you are a user of this website, you are urged to contact the owners and insist that they pay our ransom. If this ransom is not paid, we will release all data publicly on this Tor site, including source code and personal data of users. Additionally, we will submit all artwork to AI companies to be added to training datasets.”
LunaLock promised to delete the stolen data and allow users to decrypt their files if the site’s owner paid a $50,000 ransom. “Payment is accepted in either Bitcoin or Monero,” the notice put on the site by the hackers said. The ransom note included a countdown timer that gave the site’s owners several days to cough up the cash. “If you do not pay, all files will be leaked, including personal user data. This may cause you to be subject to fines and penalties under the GDPR and other laws.”
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
If you’re someone who reheats the same cup of coffee two or three times before finally finishing it, the Ember Mug 2 might be your kind of upgrade. It’s a 10oz smart mug that keeps your drink at your preferred temperature (anywhere from 120 to 145 degrees) for up to 90 minutes on battery or all day if you leave it on its charging coaster. This Open Box unit is on sale for $69.99 right now on StackSocial (down from $129.95), and while it isn’t sealed and pristine, it’s been verified to be in new condition and includes a full 1-year warranty. It ships free to the contiguous U.S., and everything you need is in the box—the mug, charging coaster, and cable. Just pour your drink, let it do its thing (it lets you know via a tiny LED light when your drink has hit your perfect temperature), and forget about lukewarm coffee.
You can use the Ember Mug 2 straight out of the box with its default 135-degree setting, but the real fun starts when you pair it with the Ember app (available on iOS and Android). You can dial in a specific temperature, assign custom presets for different drinks (tea, black coffee, green tea, etc.), and even change the color of the LED to match your vibe. It also shuts off on its own when it’s empty or hasn’t been touched in a while, which is great for people who forget everything, including whether they left their mug on the charger.
You’ll need to hand-wash it (it’s not dishwasher safe), but it’s water-resistant enough (IPX7) to rinse or even submerge if you get carried away with the sponge. It also charges via USB-C, so you’re not stuck hunting for a proprietary charger if you misplace the cable. If gifting season is coming up or if you’re just tired of babysitting your drink with a microwave, this is one of those gadgets that actually earns its place on the counter.
Presumably having burnt all his bridges with boat-owning friends, this is a video of Youtuber BCmtb water skiing down a drainage ditch into the ocean (previously: kayakers going down one). In his own words, which thankfully were not last ones, “Let’s hope I can make these corners.” Our collective hope worked though, because he does make those corners. He also makes a mess of the bottom of those skis, which, if he’s smart but a dirtbag friend, were borrowed. No wonder nobody wants to tow him.
An anonymous reader shares a report: It’s broadly understood that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than their counterparts that burn only gasoline. And yes — that includes the impact of manufacturing batteries and generating power to charge them. But even then, such generalizations gloss over specifics, like which EVs are especially eco-friendly, not to mention where. The efficiency of an electric car varies greatly depending on ambient temperature, which is less compromising for gas-burning vehicles.
We now have the data and math to answer these questions, courtesy of the University of Michigan. Last week, researchers there released a study along with a calculator that allows users to compare the lifetime difference in greenhouse gas emissions of various vehicle types and powertrains from “cradle to grave,” as they say. That includes vehicle production and disposal, as well as use-phase emissions from “driving and upstream fuel production and/or electricity generation,” per the university itself.
What’s more, these calculations can be skewed by where you live. So, if I punch in my location of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, I can see that my generic, pure-ICE “compact sedan” emits 309 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e) per mile. A compact hybrid would emit 20% less; a plug-in hybrid, 44% less; and an EV with a 200-mile range, a whopping 63% less. And, if I moved to Phoenix, the gains would be even larger by switching to pure electric, to the tune of a 79% reduced carbon impact.
HVAC units, trash cans, outdoor pipes: These may all be necessary, but they’re not always the most attractive things to look at, and curb appeal is incredibly important for both resale value and first impressions. If you don’t want that ugly propane tank, sprinkler valve, or row of trash cans to be the first thing people notice about your house, don’t worry—there are some easy ways to hide all that stuff.
Artificial stumps & rocks
For smaller items that interrupt your landscaping or garden—like pool pumps, sprinkler pipes, or electrical boxes—you can use an inexpensive fake rock like this to cover them up. If you match the color and texture of your fake rock with what’s already visible, it will blend in seamlessly. You can also buy hollow fake stumps like this if that’s a better match for your landscaping or if you need to hide something taller (or you can buy a taller fake stone, like this 34-inch high model).
Privacy screens
Hiding larger items like an HVAC unit, propane tank, or trash and recycling bins requires something larger than a fake rock. Exterior privacy screens are a simple way to get the job done—all it takes is a little thought on the style and material to make sure it matches or complements your house’s exterior. You can even find privacy screens with built-in planters, like this, so it looks less like an awkward barrier and more like a part of your curb appeal plan.
Trellises
If the planter screen seems like a great idea, consider the power of a trellis and a climbing plant, which creates a privacy screen with a more natural look. You can buy a trellis in different shapes, too, so you can train your climbing plants to cover up just about anything—like a tube trellis to cover a downspout or an ugly section of exposed pipe. And you can make your own trellis, so you can cover up just about anything with a climbing plant.
Paint
A couple of coats of paint can transform just about anything from eyesore to purposeful decoration. If you can’t easily cover up a large propane tank, HVAC unit, or other piece of equipment drawing the eye outside your house, consider painting it. A bold pop of color that complements the rest of your home’s curb appeal might be sufficient, but you can also let your creative sparks fly a bit, transforming a propane tank into a piece of folk art.
Potted plants
If you’ve got small stuff marring the exterior of your house, like a natural gas service line or an exterior meter, it’s easy to install a couple of potted plants around it. With minimal effort, you can place several plants strategically around whatever it is you want to hide. Depending on your location and the existing landscaping around your house, the best plants to use will probably be evergreen shrubs, because they grow pretty tall and full. The downside to evergreens is that they can take a while to grow in, so instead you could opt for a faster-growing plant, like hydrangea.
Outdoor furniture
If the ugly thing ruining your house is on a sidewalk or faces the street, you could also consider adding some furniture, like a bench, that fits over the ugly bit. Instead of a random screen or collection of plants that make it pretty clear you’re hiding something, a bench, storage box, or patio set looks more purposeful.
Consider a storage bench that’s large enough to cover what you’re hiding, then remove the back or bottom so it can be placed directly over what you’re obscuring. If you’re covering a gas line, however, make sure the bench or box is slatted for ventilation before you cover it up—they need to vent to the outside air.
Robots can serve pizza, crawl over alien planets, swim like octopuses and jellyfish, cosplay as humans, and even perform surgery. But can they walk on water?
Rhagobot isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of a robot. Inspired by Rhagovelia water striders, semiaquatic insects also known as ripple bugs, these tiny bots can glide across rushing streams because of the robotization of an evolutionary adaptation.
Rhagovelia (as opposed to other species of water striders) have fan-like appendages toward the ends of their middle legs that passively open and close depending on how the water beneath them is moving. This is why they appear to glide effortlessly across the water’s surface. Biologist Victor Ortega-Jimenez of the University of California, Berkeley, was intrigued by how such tiny insects can accelerate and pull off rapid turns and other maneuvers, almost as if they are flying across a liquid surface.
Due to a “significant portion” of Red Hat’s internal QA team responsible for Fedora QA leaving the company or switching to other teams at Red Hat, there are some Fedora ARM release changes coming to deal with the reduced abilities of their quality assurance team…
Yesterday afternoon, while much of the country enjoyed Labor Day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk published a new master plan for the company to his social media platform. It’s the fourth such document for Tesla, replacing the goals Musk laid out in 2023 when he said the company would sell 20 million EVs a year in 2030. This time, it is not entirely sure what Tesla’s plan actually entails. The text, which reads as though it was written by AI, is at times anodyne, at times confusing, but always free of specifics.
Each iteration of the master plan is Tesla’s north star, the new plan reads, promising to “to deliver unconstrained sustainability without compromise,” whatever that actually means.
“Now, we are combining our manufacturing capabilities with our autonomous prowess to deliver new products and services that will accelerate global prosperity and human thriving driven by economic growth shared by all,” reads the plan.
UK weather agency Met Office, in a blog post: Provisional Met Office statistics confirm that summer 2025 is officially the warmest summer on record for the UK. Analysis by Met Office climate scientists has also shown that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would be in a ‘natural’ climate with no human caused greenhouse gas emissions.
The UK’s mean temperature from 1 June to 31 August stands at 16.10C, which is 1.51C above the long-term meteorological average. This surpasses the previous record of 15.76C, set in 2018, and pushes the summer of 1976 out of the top five warmest summers in a series dating back to 1884.
The cable industry’s top lobbying group has a new president and CEO. Cory Gardner, a Republican who spent 10 years in Congress, was announced today as the new head of NCTA-The Internet & Television Association.
Gardner represented Colorado in the US senate from 2015 to 2021 and was in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. He had to leave the Senate after losing a re-election bid and later became chairman of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC devoted to “protecting and expanding the Republican Senate Majority.”
Gardner will take over the NCTA’s reins on September 22, replacing Michael Powell, who is retiring from the lobby group after nearly 15 years. Before becoming the cable industry’s chief lobbyist, Powell was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2005. Powell led a Republican majority at the FCC.
It’s a dynamic time right now in the automotive industry. Many manufacturers that previously pledged themselves to dive head-first into the wonderful world of electrification are now pumping their literal and metaphorical brakes on the idea, leaning back into hybrids, plug-ins, and various other transitional means of propulsion.
Audi is one of those brands that has been softening its stance on the EV front lately, pledging to continue supporting internal combustion-powered machines so long as the market demands. But its new concept unveiled today in Milan gives us a striking view of a next generation of EVs — and hybrids, and others — that will wear four rings on the nose.
It’s called the Concept C, and it’s part of a movement Audi brass have called “the radical next.” It’s meant to be something of a reboot for the brand’s design efforts, a back-to-basics project that starts on the inside with a dramatically simplified interior design.
While many modern Audis feature one or two giant touchscreens that dominate the dash, in the Concept C, there’s just a pure dashboard with a subtle, illuminated vertical slot in the middle. Controls are physical and chunky, designed to have a strong sense of weight and tactility, featuring what the car’s designers describe as the “Audi click.”
Tim Stevens for Engadget
It’s definitely a major departure for Audi, but there is a nod to modern sensibilities with a 10.4-inch touchscreen. It’s hidden, tucking itself behind the dashboard when not needed and quickly swiveling into view when summoned. The car also features buttons and touch-sensitive surfaces that disappear behind the dashboard, a row of backlit controls that only appear when needed.
The outside of the car is a substantial reboot, too. In this new concept, you’ll see some similarities to the brand’s last great roadster, the TT, which went out of production in 2023. But to see the key inspiration for the Concept C, you have to go back a little further, back to the Auto Union Grand Prix machines of the 1930s.
Specifically, Audi is referencing the Type C, which raced from the pre-Formula One days of 1936 to 1937. That car’s shape and upright grille definitely carry on in the Concept C, but this new road car has one feature that vintage racing machines lacked: a folding hardtop convertible.
The Concept C is actually the first Audi to sport such a top, giving it the look of a coupe but the open-air design of a roadster. The louvered rear and simple, tapered shape are dipped in a colored paint meant to emulate the subtle warmth of titanium.
Tim Stevens for Engadget
One thing that tapered shape doesn’t allow is a rear window. Like the Polestar 4, the Concept C takes an extreme stance towards rearward visibility by featuring none at all. That rear-view mirror you see hanging from the glass is digital. But, the fact that this car even has a rear-view mirror, plus side mirrors and windshield wipers, hint that this thing is probably close to production-ready.
When it comes to the more practical matter of what makes it go, and for how far and how quickly, sadly, we don’t have a lot of details just yet. Again, Audi has said that this will be an EV, but that the design will influence a new generation of Audis powered by all sorts of options, including hybrid and internal combustion, “as the transition to electric mobility progresses.”
This car, though, is most definitely battery powered, though the company has yet to share any more details beyond that. Audi says it is rear-wheel drive, which would point to a single-motor at the back, but a future version with Quattro all-wheel drive seems like a sure bet.
This car’s predecessor, the TT, was actually based on the Volkswagen Golf chassis, which gave it front-wheel drive to begin with. However, if this new machine is to share its foundations with anything, it’s much more likely to be Porsche’s upcoming electric 718, as previewed in the Mission R.
But for now that’s just speculation, and again, this is just a concept. Audi isn’t saying when a car like this might see production, but it is a machine that is destined to become something you can buy. That’ll be good news to anyone who misses the dearly departed TT. If an eventual production-based Concept C still looks this good when it hits dealers, it very well might make just as many waves as its predecessor.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/audis-concept-c-previews-the-companys-next-gen-ev-aspirations-190030488.html?src=rss
Scroll through TikTok or Instagram fitness content these days, and you might stumble upon something that’ll makes you do a double-take: videos of people running around on all fours. Sometimes it’s muscular men in army fatigues, and others it’s people in furry masks and tails gracefully bounding across parks.
The movement combines elements of parkour, gymnastics, and animal locomotion, creating workouts that are part fitness routine, part creative expression, and part return to “primal movement.” Welcome to “quadrobics,” the latest fitness trend has people literally going back to basics—or rather, back to the movement patterns our four-legged friends never abandoned.
My colleague Lindsey Ellefson recently recommended primal movement as an alternative way to exercise. I agree there’s merit to the idea that getting on all fours can reframe exercise as more joyful, especially if you struggle to work out. I’m not here to talk you out of running all fours. I’d simply like to remind anyone who endeavors to follow the latest fitness trends that two legs can get the job done just as well.
What exactly is quadrobics?
At its core, quadrobics involves moving on all fours using various animal-inspired patterns. A quick search on TikTok shows that there’s an extra cultural element to the practice: The aesthetic component—complete with animal ears, tails, and masks—has become just as important as the physical exercise itself. If that’s not your thing, the fitness side of it still about tapping into your animalistic instincts. You might crawl like a bear, bound like a rabbit, or stalk like a big cat, often incorporating jumps, rolls, and other dynamic movements.
Despite its unconventional appearance, quadrobics does offer legitimate fitness benefits. Moving on all fours engages the entire body in ways that traditional upright exercises often don’t. It requires significant core strength, works the shoulders and arms through weight-bearing positions, and challenges coordination and balance.
Four legs good, two legs…also good
Part of quadrobics’ appeal undoubtedly lies in its visual novelty and social share-ability. In an era where fitness influencers are constantly seeking the next eye-catching workout trend, moving like an animal certainly will make you stand out in a crowded field of kettlebell swings and burpees. The costume element adds another layer of engagement, appealing to communities interested in alternative identities, cosplay, and self-expression.
While quadrobics enthusiasts are having their moment in the social media spotlight, it’s worth remembering that human beings evolved to be pretty solid at bipedal locomotion. Running, walking, jumping, dancing, cycling, swimming—the list of highly effective exercises you can do on two legs is virtually endless. It’s also worth noting that switching to all-fours introduces some risk: Without proper form, you could easily experience a wrist or shoulder injury from supporting body weight.
Both two- and four-legged exercise will serve you well
Want to build functional strength? Two-legged squats, lunges, and deadlifts have got you covered. Looking for coordination challenges? Try dance, martial arts, or agility drills. Seeking that mind-body connection? Yoga offers centuries of refined practice. The beauty of bipedal movement is its versatility—you can go from a gentle walk to an intense sprint workout using the same basic mechanics you’ve been perfecting since you learned to walk as a toddler. While quadrobics practitioners hop and crawl their way to fitness goals, the rest of us can take comfort in knowing that our bipedal design is spectacular as-is.
The most important thing isn’t how many limbs an exercise uses—it’s that you move your body regularly in ways that challenge it, bring you satisfaction, and support your long-term health. I love the idea that people are increasingly willing to explore unconventional forms of movement and challenge traditional notions of what exercise should look like. This openness to experimentation is valuable, whether it leads someone to quadrobics, pole dancing, axe throwing, or rediscovering the joy of playground equipment.
The bottom line
The real key is finding forms of movement that you genuinely enjoy and can sustain over time. For some people, that might indeed involve channeling their inner wolf. For others, it’s a simple daily walk, a weekly tennis game, or a regular yoga practice. The “best” workout is ultimately the one you’ll actually do consistently. If donning animal ears and practicing your bear crawl brings you joy and gets you moving, there’s nothing wrong with embracing your wild side. Just remember this: Your perfectly adequate human legs have taken you this far in life. They’re probably up for whatever fitness challenge you want to throw at them next.
Even retro console superfans would be forgiven for not knowing about the LaserActive, a pricey LaserDisc player released in 1994 alongside swappable hardware modules that could add support for Sega Genesis and NEC TurboGrafx-16 games and controllers. Using those add-ons, you could also play a handful of games specifically designed for the LaserActive format, which combined game data and graphics with up to 60 minutes of full-screen, standard-definition analog video per side.
Mega-LD games (as the Genesis-compatible LaserActive titles were called) were, for the most part, super-sized versions of the types of games you’d find on early CD-ROM console of the era. That means a lot of edutainment titles, branching dungeon crawlers, Dragon’s Lair-style animated quick-time event challenges, and rail shooters that overlayed standard Genesis or TG-16 graphics on top of elaborate animated video backgrounds (sometimes complete with filmed actors).
Two years ago the AMD Linux CPU temperature driver was updated to handle negative temperature reporting. That’s for some users with exotic cooling systems and then also use within some industrial applications where the systems may be subject to sub-zero temperatures. The AMD sbtsi_temp driver is also now being similarly updated for handling freezing CPU temperatures…
If you’ve read our previous reporting on Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake processors, you’ll be well aware that the latest rumors have described the desktop CPUs as being tile-based designs rather similar to AMD’s chiplet processors, utilizing multiple discrete compute tiles, each with 24 CPU cores. Those rumors have been completely unsubstantiated
The sky is falling, and Gmail has supposedly been hacked to bits by malicious parties unknown. Or has it? Reports circulated last week claiming that Gmail was the subject of a major data breach, citing a series of warnings Google has distributed and increasing reports of phishing attacks. The hysteria was short-lived, though. In a brief post on its official blog, Google says that Gmail’s security is “strong and effective,” and reports to the contrary are mistaken.
This story seems to have developed due to a random confluence of security events. Google experienced a Gmail data breach in June, but the attack was limited to the company’s corporate Salesforce server. The hacker was able to access publicly available information like business names and contact details, but no private information was compromised.
Over the following weeks, Google alerted Gmail users to an increase in phishing attacks in July and August. It didn’t offer many details, but many believed the spike in phishing was related to the corporate server breach. Indeed, more people are talking about hacking attempts on social media right now. This led to the claim that Gmail’s entire user base of 2.5 billion people was about to be hacked at any moment, with some reports advising everyone to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication. While that’s generally good security advice, Google says the truth is much less dramatic.
If you watch enough YouTube, you might consider paying for YouTube Premium. With it, you get to watch videos ad-free, download content for offline playback, and access YouTube Music Premium—though there are ways to bypass ads and download videos without it. While the standard sub is $13.99, families can upgrade to Premium Family for $22.99 per month, which supports up to six accounts on one plan—but you’re going to want to make sure those accounts all belong to people who live in your house.
That’s not necessarily anything new. According to Android Police, since 2023, YouTube’s policy regarding its Premium Family plan is that all accounts need to be a part of the same “household.” That means that all users need to live in the same house as the account holder. However, it’s a policy that YouTube hasn’t enforced. As such, account holders have been able to add up to five other members to their Premium Family plans, regardless of where those users live.
That’s now changing. Android Police reports that YouTube is now cracking down on Premium Family accounts that allow users from outside the household. In fact, YouTube is reaching out to users who have joined a Family Plan that belongs to someone they do not live with. The message reads as follows:
“Your YouTube Premium family membership requires all members to be in the same household as the family manager. It appears you may not be in the same household as your family manager, and your membership will be paused in 14 days. Once your access is paused, you will remain in your family group and be able to watch YouTube with ads, but will no longer have YouTube Premium benefits.”
YouTube doesn’t appear to be rolling out widespread enforcement at this time, though it gives us a glimpse at how they’re handling it. Once they find that your account is out of compliance, they’ll give you two weeks of use, before pausing your membership. They won’t kick you out of your family group, nor will they stop your ability to watch YouTube, but you’ll lose all Premium benefits, including ad-free videos, downloads, and YouTube Music Premium.
Can you get around this YouTube Premium Family crackdown?
Like other services with these types of restrictions, YouTube runs a monthly “check-in” to confirm that users live in the same house as the account holder. Every 30 days, the service will make sure you’re streaming from the same location. In theory, that should give you an opportunity to trick YouTube’s check-in system, but in practice, it might be more complicated.
See, with services like Netflix, this monthly check-in isn’t necessarily automated. Instead, you simply need to access your account from the household once a month to be in compliance. So for September, you could take your iPad or laptop to the account owner’s house, stream a bit, and be set until October.
With YouTube Premium, however, it seems the check-in happens on its own. It might not be enough to simply stream from the household every 30 days: If the system sees you out of the household for these check-ins, it might flag your account.
YouTube doesn’t go into a ton of detail into how these check-ins actually work, so there’s no harm in streaming from the account owner’s house to see if that keeps you in compliance.
If SpaceX is going to fly Starships as often as it wants to, it’s going to take more than rockets and launch pads.
First, there’s the sprawling factory that SpaceX has constructed at its Starbase location along the Gulf Coast in South Texas. The building, known as Starfactory, is designed to produce one Starship per day. A couple of miles to the east, SpaceX has built one Starship launch pad and is preparing to activate a second one.
With Starship, SpaceX seeks to buck the old way of doing things. Tanker trucks have traditionally delivered rocket propellant to launch pads at America’s busiest spaceports in Florida and California. SpaceX has used the same method of bringing propellant for the first several years of operations at Starbase.
Zwift began featuring a Climbof the Week in August 2025, giving Zwifters the chance to earn an XP bonus by completing a particular portal climb. Here’s the schedule of featured climbs, including the bonus XP you’ll earn for completing each. (Click climb name for details.)
Featured climbs switch at 9am Pacific each Monday (noon Eastern, 4pm UTC).
To access the Climb of the Week, begin by clicking the challenge card on the homescreen. Click the climb, confirm your difficulty percentage (you can ride the climb at 50%, 75%, 100%, or 125%), then click Start Ride.
Finish the full climb and you’ll get a completion banner across your screen:
Double Up
The Climb of the Week can be stacked with the Workout of the Week to earn bonus XP extra fast.
To do this, you must first click the Workout of the Week challenge card to be “registered” for the week’s workout challenge.
Next, click the Climb of the Week challenge card, click the featured climb, and enter the game. Once you’re in the game, pull up the list of workouts (use the “E” keyboard shortcut or access it by clicking Menu>Workouts).
Find this week’s featured workout in the workout archive. (If you aren’t sure where to find it, click the workout on the WOTW calendar above to learn where it’s stored.) Load the workout and complete it while completing the Climb of the Week. Double the fun!
Questions or Comments
Questions or comments about the Climb of the Week? Share below!
