The growing enthusiasm among Gen Z for ditching smartphones in favor of basic “dumbphones” may be overlooking a significant cognitive reality, according to a WIRED essay that draws on the 1998 “extended mind hypothesis” by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers. The hypothesis argues that external tools can extend the biological brain in an all but physical way, meaning your phone isn’t just a device — it’s part of a single cognitive system composed of both the tool and your brain.
“Interference with my phone is like giving me some brain damage,” Clark told Wired. He expressed concern about the dumbphone movement, calling it “generally a retrograde step” and warning that as smartphone enmeshment becomes the societal norm, those who opt out risk becoming “effectively disabled within that society.” Clark described this as “the creation of a disempowered class.”
98% of Americans between 18 and 29 own a smartphone, dropping only to 97% for those aged 30 to 49. Even committed dumbphone users struggle. One user profiled in the piece still carries an “emergency iPhone” for work requirements and admits long-distance friendships have become “nearly impossible to maintain.”
SolidRun has introduced the Bedrock RAI300, a fanless industrial PC built around one of AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 300 series processors. The system is SolidRun’s first industrial platform based on Zen 5, combining high-performance x86 compute, integrated AI acceleration, and modular I/O for long-term industrial deployment. The Bedrock RAI300 is powered by the AMD Ryzen […]
PostgreSQL contributor Robert Haas has published
a blog post that breaks down code contributions to PostgreSQL in
2025.
I calculate that, in 2025, there were 266 people who were the
principal author of at least one PostgreSQL commit. 66% of the new
lines of code where contributed by one of 26 people, and 90% of the
lines of new code were contributed by one of 67 people.
Contributions to the project seem to be on the upswing; in his analysis
of development in 2024, there were 229 people who were the primary
authors of a commit, and 66% of new lines of code were contributed by
one of 18 people. The raw
data is also available.
In late 2023 Mozilla began providing Debian packages of Firefox Nightly builds complete with an APT repository. Those on Debian/Ubuntu distributions have a much easier path for enjoying Firefox Nightly since then and now Mozilla engineers are providing similar RPM builds of Firefox nightly too…
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If you want a tablet and a laptop but can’t justify buying two separate devices, there’s no need to choose—there are plenty of two-in-one designs out there like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360, a lightweight laptop that flips back 360 degrees and combines the perks of both. Right now, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 laptop and tablet is $1,549.99 (originally $ 1,999.99), bringing it to 23% off and its lowest price ever, according to price-trackers.
This laptop-tablet hybrid is a shining example of how versatile a PC can be and is a smart option for students, frequent travelers, or people who only need a keyboard occasionally. In laptop mode, it works like a standard clamshell for typing, but can be folded back flat and used with the included S Pen in tablet mode. It also has in-between tent and stand modes, which let you prop it up to watch movies in bed or on a plane or for presentations where you don’t want the keyboard in the way.
It comes with 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD and uses an Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 258V that’s designed for effective everyday performance and AI tasks. The 8-core Lunar Lake chip is built for thin, lightweight laptops and 2-in-1s, and this Windows Pro 11 model is rated for up to 24 hours of battery life. The 16-inch 3K AMOLED touchscreen boasts a high resolution and accurate, vivid colors, though some reviewers note that the keyboard is a little softer and less “clicky” than they’d like.
Its durable aluminum design weighs just 3.72 pounds and is 12.7mm thick, rivaling the weight of the 15-inch MacBook Air (around 3.3 lbs). AI-optimized Copilot+ enhancements add functionality as a business laptop, depending on how much you use AI in your day-to-day. You can also sync a Galaxy phone to access features like call, text, and AI tools. With a 120Hz refresh rate, it also delivers smooth scrolling, video playback, and casual gaming.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for a premium and ultra-portable 2-in-1 PC laptop with seamless performance, a vibrant high-res touch screen, and lots of memory and storage, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is a versatile workhorse works well for both business and creative tasks, especially if you’re already part of the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem and can grab it at its current $450 discount.
The io_uring
subsystem is more than an asynchronous I/O interface for Linux; it is,
for all practical purposes, an independent system-call API. It has enabled
high-performance applications, but it also brings challenges for code built
around classic, Unix-style system calls. For example, the seccomp()
sandboxing mechanism does not work with it, causing applications using seccomp() to disable io_uring outright. Io_uring maintainer Jens
Axboe is seeking to improve that situation with a rapidly evolving patch
series adding a new restrictive mechanism to that subsystem.
Far Side fans might recall a classic 1982 cartoon called “Cow Tools,” featuring a cow standing next to a jumble of strange objects—the joke being that cows don’t use tools. That’s why a pet Swiss brown cow in Austria named Veronika has caused a bit of a sensation: she likes to pick up random sticks and use them to scratch herself. According to a new paper published in the journal Current Biology, this is a form of multipurpose tool use and suggests that the cognitive capabilities of cows have been underestimated by scientists.
As previously reported, tool use was once thought to be one of the defining features of humans, but examples of it were eventually observed in primates and other mammals. Dolphins can toss objects as a form of play which some scientists consider to be a type of tool use, particularly when it involves another member of the same species. Potential purposes include a means of communication, social bonding, or aggressiveness. (Octopuses have also been observed engaging in similar throwing behavior.)
But the biggest surprise came when birds were observed using tools in the wild. After all, birds are the only surviving dinosaurs, and mammals and dinosaurs hadn’t shared a common ancestor for hundreds of millions of years. In the wild, observed tool use has been limited to the corvids (crows and jays), which show a variety of other complex behaviors—they’ll remember your face and recognize the passing of their dead.
Queued into the Linux networking subsystem’s “net-next” branch ahead of the Linux 6.20~7.0 merge window next month is cake_mq as a multi-queue aware variant of the sch_cake network scheduler. The intent with cake_mq is to better scale the network traffic rate shaper across multiple CPU cores…
The current hardware landscape is a tough one for gamers, as even more price increases are likely to come this year. This challenging environment has meant that cloud gaming services have become a more enticing option, and it looks as if Microsoft is going to attempt to tap into this market by opening up its Xbox Cloud Gaming service to more
BrianFagioli writes: The New York Stock Exchange, owned by Intercontinental Exchange, is developing a platform for trading tokenized versions of U.S. listed stocks and ETFs around the clock, pending regulatory approval. The system would combine the NYSE’s existing matching engine with blockchain-based settlement, enabling 24×7 trading, instant settlement, and fractional share purchases priced in dollar amounts. Shares would remain fully regulated securities, with dividends and voting rights intact, rather than cryptocurrencies, even though the backend would run on blockchain-style infrastructure.
Life can be wildly unfair and at times immensely sad, but in a gracious act of kindness, Take-Two Interactive may be putting pieces in motion to allow a terminally ill gamer stricken with cancer to playtest Grand Theft Auto VI long before it comes out. While nothing has been confirmed, the latest update to a now-deleted LinkedIn post on behalf
Early this morning, the internet was shocked to learn of an explosion within the Rockstar North building in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rockstar North is best known as the developer of Grand Theft Auto VI and the wider Grand Theft Auto series back to Grand Theft Auto III, with some forays into other Rockstar properties like L.A. Noire, Max Payne
Sigma’s new Reco 81 Link smart light has a built-in radar that can detect up to eight vehicles at a range of 140 meters.
The rear smart bike light, released last month, also features a brake light function that recognises when you’re decelerating and has an emergency function that lets other road users know when you’ve slammed on the anchors.
Sigma says the radar technology ensures approaching vehicles do not overlook you, with a bright warning light signalling to motorists that they are approaching a cyclist.
Sigma says all bike computers with an ANT+ radar profile are compatible with the light, with a BLE connection used to connect to the Sigma Ride App for updates and status display.
While the brand doesn’t list the lumens of the light, it says it can be seen up to 500m away.
Sigma doesn’t say how bright the light is. Sigma
There are six light modes, with varying intensity and battery life – with the High mode said to last around 15 hours and the Eco Mode up to 27 hours.
You can also use the Reco 81 Link exclusively as a radar, where battery life increases to 30 hours.
The light charges via USB-C and is IP67 certified, meaning it should stand up to wet rides.
It’s cold out there in parts of the country, but do you know what really warms our heart? Yes, hot cocoa, but we’re also smitten with savings. If you are too, then do yourself a solid and check out Best Buy’s Winter Sale event, with deep discounts on a wide range of electronics, including OLED TVs, gaming PCs, headphones, and a whole lot more.
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Meta’s Threads is pulling further ahead of Elon Musk’s X on mobile, based on recent estimates from analytics firm Similarweb, Forbes reports. In the first stretch of January, Threads averaged roughly 143 million daily active users worldwide on mobile devices, compared with about 126 million for X.
Similarweb’s year-over-year snapshot shows Threads growing sharply, up 37.8 percent year-over-year, while X’s daily mobile audience fell 11.9 percent across the same period. The picture is more mixed in the US, where X still holds a narrow edge on mobile. Similarweb data puts X at about 21.2 million daily active US mobile users in early January versus roughly 19.5 million for Threads.
However, Threads’ US mobile usage has risen substantially faster over the past year, surging almost 42 percent to X’s 18 percent. X remains far larger on desktop, where it draws around 150 million daily users or visits worldwide, while Threads’ web presence sits at just 9 million.
Forbes also reported on Similarweb data for Bluesky, another competing text-based platform started by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Dorsey left the board in the summer of 2024, later telling Pirate Wireshe believed Bluesky was “literally repeating all the mistakes we made as a company,” in reference to Twitter. The social network opened registrations in 2024, and sits now with a daily mobile user base of 3.6 million, which Similarweb says is down 44.4 percent year-over-year.
X has found itself in hot water yet again over xAI’s Grok chatbot, which was altering pictures of women on the platform to create lewd images at the request of users without the consent of those pictured. In some cases, the chatbot also altered the images of underage girls. The uproar in response led the company to shut off image generation for nonsubscribers and place firmer guardrails on what types of images can be generated. The delayed action came after weeks of Grok creating tens of thousands of these images, and after the Attorney General of California launched an investigation.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-has-more-global-daily-users-than-x-on-mobile-for-the-first-time-144936831.html?src=rss
The “surprisingly resilient” global economy is at risk of being disrupted by a sharp reversal in the AI boom, the IMF warned on Monday, as world leaders prepared for talks in the Swiss resort of Davos. From a report: Risks to global economic expansion were “tilted to the downside,” the fund said in an update to its World Economic Outlook, arguing that growth was reliant on a narrow range of drivers, notably the US technology sector and the associated equity boom.
Nonetheless, it predicted US growth would strongly outpace the rest of the G7 this year, forecasting an expansion of 2.4 per cent in 2026 and 2 per cent in 2027. Tech investment had surged to its highest share of US economic output since 2001, helping drive growth, the IMF found.
“There is a risk of a correction, a market correction, if expectations about AI gains in productivity and profitability are not realised,” said Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, IMF chief economist. “We’re not yet at the levels of market frothiness, if you want, that we saw in the dotcom period,” he added. “But nevertheless there are reasons to be somewhat concerned.”
Earlier this month we looked at the Dell Pro Max GB10 performance up against AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ “Strix Halo” with the superior performance for the green team for performance and power efficiency. For those wondering how the Dell Pro Max GB10 performance comes up for the much talked about NVIDIA GH200, here are some comparison benchmarks.
ASUS is not planning to release any new smartphones this year, and may be exiting the mobile phone business altogether. That means no more new ROG Phone iterations (making the ROG Phone 9 we reviewed its last gaming handset) and no more premium Zenfone handsets (the last Zenfone model we reviewed was the Zenfone 9 in 2022).
China’s birth rate fell to 5.6 per 1,000 people in 2025, the lowest figure since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, and the country’s total population contracted by 3.39 million, the sharpest decline since the Mao Zedong era. The drop marks the fourth straight year of population decline and comes despite government efforts to encourage childbearing, including subsidies of about $500 annually per child born on or after January 1, 2025.
Beijing has also imposed a 13% value-added tax on contraceptives this year. The government is betting on automation and productivity to offset the shrinking workforce — China already leads the world in robot installations — and President Xi Jinping has written that population policy must transition “from being mainly about regulating quantity to improving quality.”
The cycling industry seems to be grappling with new standards all the time, and the latest to cause a stir is 32in wheels.
Now tyre manufacturer Schwalbe has revealed it is “fully convinced” by the extra-large size and BikeRadar can reveal it will be releasing 32in tyres in 2027.
The tyre size has mostly been discussed in the world of mountain biking. Last year, Maxxis revealed 32in tyres at Eurobike and BMC athletes were spotted riding prototype 32in wheels. Then, in November, the UCI said the new size would be permitted in XC racing from 2026.
During a presentation at the Velofollies tradeshow last week, Schwalbe’s product manager Jakob Maßen said the company would be introducing 32in tyres “for nearly all cycling categories”.
On display at Schwalbe’s stand at Velofollies was a gravel bike from Unpaved Cycles with 32in wheels and prototype Schwalbe G-One RX Pro tyres. Stan Portus / Our Media
Schwalbe has been experimenting with 32in tyres in its lab. “The Schwalbe lab gives us the freedom to experiment and to test new ideas and innovate things without any pressure,” Maßen said.
Testing ideas in the lab is a way for Schwalbe to see if they could become products. One example Maßen cites that started in the lab is Schwalbe’s Radial mountain bike tyres, which have carcass threads at a more obtuse angle to increase the tyre’s contact area.
Schwalbe began testing 32in tyres in the lab with the same mindset, to see if the size would make a viable product.
“We went into this with an open mind. Some of us were sceptical but with field and lab testing, we saw that there are advantages and these will also be a benefit for the consumer,” Maßen said.
Schwalbe found 32in tyres provide more grip due to a larger contact patch with the ground, increase stability, allow for higher cornering speeds and improve comfort.
“We could also prove, scientifically, an improved lower rolling resistance, especially on uneven surfaces,” added Maßen.
This led Schwalbe to commit to the new size. “We are fully convinced of this new technology, and we will be introducing new products in this size in 2027,” said Maßen.
One question that remains is whether Schwalbe will produce 32in road bike tyres.
“Road cycling is heavily restricted by the UCI and there is a rule that the diameter of the overall wheel and tyre is not supposed to exceed 700mm,” Maßen said, adding that a 700c wheel – the wheel size found on the majority of road bikes – is already at this limit when fitted with a 35mm tyre.
Maßen said Schwalbe doesn’t know whether this UCI restriction will be lifted. He added that: “We don’t know what the future holds, but we’re exploring all options.”
Alongside discussing its plans for 32in tyres, Schwalbe revealed its new Pro One Allroad road bike tyre at Velofollies. The tyre is said to ‘close the gap’ between road and gravel bike tyres for the extreme conditions of races such as Paris–Roubaix. The tyre is available in sizes up to 40mm wide.
Addressing the trend for wider road bike tyres, Maßen said: “I think this year we will see more really big options, but it really depends on the frame manufacturers – if they can offer a bike that is fast and account for these figures.”
