For many, this update is
With Lunar Lake and newer Intel graphics there is a new feature called the Common Mode Timing Generator (CMTG) that so far hasn’t been enabled by the open-source Intel Linux graphics driver. But patches being worked on are enabling this CMTG feature that will unlock other functionality moving forward…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told colleagues last month that Google’s recent progress in AI could “create some temporary economic headwinds for our company,” though he added that OpenAI would emerge ahead, The Information reports [non-paywalled source]. From the report: After OpenAI researchers heard that Google had created a new AI that appears to have leapfrogged OpenAI’s in the way it was developed, Altman said in the memo that “we know we have some work to do but we are catching up fast.” Still, he cautioned employees that “I expect the vibes out there to be rough for a bit.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DJI may be the big dog in drones, but it plays third fiddle to GoPro and Insta360 in the action cam market. To better stand out, the company has launched the Osmo Action 6 with a pair of innovative features. The first is a big, square sensor that boosts video quality in low light, while making it easy to output both horizontal and vertical video. The second is a variable aperture for flexible shooting in both bright and dark conditions.
As DJI’s new flagship non-360 action cam, the Action 6 goes up against GoPro’s Hero 13 and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Both of those can capture higher resolution footage, so they’re better for most users in daylight conditions. However, if you shoot a lot in dim or contrasty light, DJI’s Action 6 may be your best option.
I’ve already gone through the Osmo Action 6’s specs in my earlier news post, so check that to see the full details. As for what’s new, the first key feature is the variable f/2.0-f/4.0 aperture — the first ever in an action cam. This allows for brighter video and improved stabilization when shooting at night compared to the fixed f/2.8 aperture on the Action 5 Pro. It also offers shallower depth of field and more flexibility on sunny days.
The first thing I noticed with this feature was the lack of full manual control. You can only set it to fixed f/2.6, f/2.8 and f/4.0 “starburst” modes, or automatic settings ranging from f/2.0-f/4.0 up to f/2.8-f/4.0. That means f/2.0 isn’t available as a fixed aperture, which is too bad as that would be ideal for portraits.
Still, variable aperture is a highly useful feature. In auto mode, it ramps from one setting to another in fine steps (f/2.1 to f/2.2, for example), so I never saw any exposure jumps. In low light, I could dial the ISO range down to avoid excessive noise, giving me higher video quality. However, I’d love to see full manual control in a future update.
Another key feature is the new 1/1.1-inch (0.56 inch diagonal) square sensor that allows a wide range of resolutions and aspect ratios. The Action 6 supports vertical and horizontal resolutions up to 4K, in either 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios for the latter orientation. The best new setting, though, is Custom, which lets you shoot 3,840 x 3,840 square video.
At 60 fps (a standard frame rate for action videos), GoPro’s Hero 13 maxes out at 5,312 x 2,988 pixels, while the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 can hit 3,840 x 2,880 pixels. That makes the Osmo Action 6 the only current action cam with 4K vertical resolution at 60 fps.
The benefit is that you can film for both horizontal and vertical video platforms like YouTube and TikTok, respectively, with no need to rotate the camera and no loss in resolution. If that sounds familiar, it’s the same reason Apple adopted a square sensor on the iPhone 17’s front camera.
I tested the Custom aspect ratio in DaVinci Resolve Studio and it made exports a breeze. First, I created and exported a standard 4K horizontal timeline, then simply copied the contents to a vertical timeline. After reframing a few shots to keep the action centered, I was able to immediately export a 4K TikTok video. That’s a big time saver for busy editors.
With a 30 percent larger sensor, the Action 6 is better for night or interior shooting using 6,400 ISO and up. Compared to the Action 5 Pro, I found nighttime video from the Action 6 to be considerably cleaner. DJI also improved the Night setting itself: video is cleaner, noise reduction is applied less aggressively and everything looks more natural.
The new sensor and variable aperture also help DJI’s Rocksteady 3.0 digital stabilization in low light. If you’re filming from a bicycle at night, for instance, the Action 6 will use a higher shutter speed than the Action 5, so video will be sharper. That helps the stabilization algorithm produce a better result with less pixelation and tearing.
In daylight conditions, the Action 6 delivers sharp, color-accurate video that can be used straight out of the camera — just like the Action 5. However, in contrasty scenarios like a sun-dappled forest trail, the Action 6 has a slight advantage. When I engaged the 10-bit D-LogM setting to boost dynamic range, I noticed that dark shadow areas had more detail and less noise than they did in footage from the Action 5 Pro or GoPro Hero 13.
However, the GoPro Hero 13’s extra resolution is an advantage if you mostly use YouTube and other horizontal formats. With up to 5,312 x 2,988 pixels at 60 fps, it offers sharper 4K video after supersampling and more room to reframe shots in post production without any loss in quality.
If you like shooting wide but hate the distortion, DJI’s Natural Wide field of view is a nice addition. The regular Wide setting tends to distort vertical lines, but Natural Wide keeps everything nice and straight while providing a greater field of view.
Finally, I tested the Action 6’s new Film Tone feature that borrows a trick from Fujifilm’s simulations. It’s a way to get some fun looks straight out of the camera, like “pristine and cool tones” or “classic negative film type.”. The results are great for anyone who doesn’t want to fiddle with color in post-production, though DJI needs to add a few more options like black and white or sepia.
With its bigger sensor the Osmo Action 6 is slightly larger than the Action 5 Pro in all dimensions, but around the same weight at 5.26 ounces. As before, it can connect to up to two DJI wireless microphones at once, including the Mic 2, Mic 3 and Mic Mini. And it comes with DJI’s new dual-latch Quick-Release Adapter Mount that can be attached in either direction, but supports all of DJI’s past accessories.
Unlike its competition, the Osmo Action 6 comes with 50GB of internal memory (up from 47GB before) along with a microSD card slot. That means you won’t be screwed if you forget a memory card, as most of us have done at one point or another. DJI also doubled the Wi-Fi transfer speeds to 80MB/s and boosted USB-C transfer rates to 800MB/s.
As before, the Action 6 is waterproof to 20 meters (66 feet) by itself, or nearly 200 feet with DJI’s waterproof case. And on top of voice control, the Action 6 supports gestures as well, so you can now wave at the camera to start and stop video (like you can with the new Neo 2 drone). With the same 1,950mAh Extreme Battery Plus as before, shooting time between charges is four hours at 1080p and two hours at 4K.
Finally, DJI has introduced two removable lenses for the Action 6, given DJI some competition in that regard. The first is a macro lens with a minimum focal distance of just 4.3 inches, making it ideal for closeup work and portraits. The other is an FOV expansion lens that boosts the field of view from 155 to 182 degrees.
With a bigger sensor and larger aperture than the competition, DJI’s Action 6 is now the best action cam on the market for night shooting, delivering clean, sharp video with better stabilization than rivals. It’s also ideal for users who output to both YouTube and TikTok.
For regular daytime shooting, though, the extra resolution offered on GoPro’s Hero 13 might be preferable for some users. All that aside, it may come down simply to the price. DJI’s Action 6 starts at $369 ($439 with extra batteries and a charger), compared to $309 for the Hero 13 Black and $420 for Insta360’s Ace Pro 2. These are all great choices, but if low-light capability is more important than resolution, choose the Osmo Action 6.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-osmo-action-6-review-an-action-camera-that-excels-in-low-light-143027343.html?src=rss
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The OnePlus 13 isn’t just competing with flagship phones. It’s quietly undercutting them. At $699 for the unlocked 512GB Arctic Dawn model, down from $849, it’s currently at its lowest price according to price trackers, making a strong case for itself if you’ve been eyeing an Android phone with top-tier specs without crossing the $1,000 threshold.
It runs on the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with 16GB RAM, includes a massive 6.82-inch ProXDR OLED display that stays readable even in direct sunlight, and delivers all-day battery life. Add in 80W wired charging (with the charger actually in the box) and a surprisingly premium build with IP68/IP69 protection, and you start to wonder why this phone isn’t getting more buzz. It also supports wireless charging, but you’ll need to buy OnePlus’ AirVOOC charger separately, notes this PCMag review.
Performance-wise, it holds its own. Whether you’re juggling dozens of apps or pushing it with demanding games, the OnePlus 13 barely breaks a sweat. Plus, its 120Hz refresh rate makes everyday scrolling feel extra smooth. On the connectivity side, you get wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, and support for advanced audio codecs like LDAC and LHDC 5.0, which is great news for wireless headphone users.
OnePlus’ ongoing collaboration with Hasselblad anchors the camera setup of the OnePlus 13, and this year, all three rear lenses are 50MP—main, telephoto, and ultra-wide. Color reproduction leans natural, not oversaturated, which is great if you prefer photos that don’t need major editing.
Software updates won’t go as long as Pixel or Galaxy phones, which might be a dealbreaker if you plan to keep your phone for years. And it doesn’t have a microSD card slot, so the 512GB you get is all you’ll have. But if you want top-tier performance, clean design, and unbeatable battery life for the price, the OnePlus 13 is one of the best values out there right now.
Thanksgiving isn’t until next week, but the Black Friday sales are upon us already. We’ve seen loads of great deals popping up around the Internet, including some serious discounts on headphones. The Beats Studio Pro set is available for a whopping 51 percent off on Amazon. That means you can grab the high-end Beats model for just $170 instead of its usual $350 price tag. This matches the cost we’ve seen for the Studio Pro headphones during other peak shopping times earlier this year, so this might be your last chance to pick them up for this price.
The Beats brand last updated this wireless over-ear headset in 2023, but it’s still a solid choice for a workhorse pair of headphones. The current model improved audio quality and added a useful Transparency mode, so that you can listen to your tunes and still be aware of the world around you, which is great for settings such as public transit and the gym. The other option is a more immersive active noise-canceling mode. Beats Studio Pro also support lossless audio when wired on a USB-C cable. The official specs say the battery life for the headphones lasts up to 40 hours, or 24 hours when the active noise canceling mode is engaged. If you need to eke more life out of these Beats, they do offer a fast-charging mode that promises four hours of activity from just ten minutes of recharge.
There are several color options for the Beats Studio Pro, so if there’s a particular hue you want to be sporting, this might be a deal to hop on quickly before the supplies run out or the deal expires.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/snag-a-pair-of-beats-studio-pro-headphones-for-half-off-this-black-friday-140335259.html?src=rss
Square Enix loves to remaster, remake and reheat its RPGs. The latest title to get the treatment is the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy spin-off, Final Fantasy Tactics.
Tactics has undergone its own remakes before, with War of the Lions bringing the game to the PlayStation Portable and, eventually, iOS and Android. However, now across all the major consoles, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is a different remake again – and even dismisses some of the characters and additions in War of the Lions. I never finished either version, and two things are apparent: I have missed out, and this is hard.
Originally released just a few months after Final Fantasy VII, which introduced polygon characters, FMV and more, Tactics’ sprite aesthetic seemed quaint in comparison. With compact isometric levels, turn-based battles are closer to Tactics Ogre and Disgaea than the lineup and strike battles of mainline Final Fantasy games of the time. The game was a critical hit, even if it didn’t match the popularity of Cloud et al.
Tactics is far less forgiving. Battle dynamics lean heavily on random number generation; your squad is often outnumbered, and you can easily be undone when resurrection spells and defensive magic fail to land. The first time my revival spell failed, I audibly swore at my Switch 2. But the taste of defeat? It’s usually seasoned just right. It’s gaming umami.
I wanted more, even at the notorious difficulty spike in a battle against knight-gone-wrong Wiegraf. In this fight, I faced him, a far more powerful fighter, solo, and proceeded to die roughly 20 times in a row. On standard difficulty, you rarely have to do this, but I had to craft a specialized version of the protagonist that could hit hard, heal himself, and generally just stay alive long enough for the second stage of this fight.
The Ivalice Chronicles can be played in two ways. The modern version features high-resolution sprites, backgrounds, and effects, while retaining the original’s isometric view, which can be rotated and tilted for the best view of the action. There’s an HD-2D nod with a thick depth of field blur to add a more modern feel.
If you want your Tactics pixelated, you can play the original version, although you can’t transition between the two, which seems like a missed opportunity. (You can toggle your saves across the versions in other RPGs with similar dual versions, like Dragon Quest XI S.)
More than the graphical downgrade, though, you’re missing out on polished voice acting, which not only elevates the diorama cutscenes and political intrigue but also peppers battles when you field main characters and they unleash certain job class attacks.
Talking of jobs, Tactics’ system remains the same, with base jobs like knight, white knight and freelancer giving way to dragoons, summoners and, much later, bizarre-but-powerful roles like arithmetician (the power of math!) and ninja.
The difficulty curve of Tactics is very much here. It was embarrassing how much I struggled to overcome spikes in difficulty, but then again, I never finished the original. (And, like a true hero, I refused to research broken job builds or easy grind spots.)
You can grind, raise levels of your characters, rake in money, and pick up crucial job points. But the wiser method is figuring a battle loop where your characters repeat actions. When the character attacks, heals, steals and generally does anything besides just moving or staying put, it earns Job Points. These are the most crucial parts of growing your squad, as abilities and passive skills can be ported between jobs; it’s how you can customize your entire party to demolish certain kinds of enemies. Lots of archers? A skill called archer’s bane means they’ll struggle to get a hit. Lots of slow-moving enemies in a tight space, rain hell with your summoner, but with an ability to regain MP as they move around.
At times, it still feels like a slog to repeat battles and garner enough JP for that skill you know will turn the tide of a challenging fight. Fortunately, a new battle speed toggle makes them a little less dull.
It’s funny to feel nostalgic about a game I never played the first time around. But there’s something familiar and cosy to Final Fantasy Tactics. I’m surprised at the depth of what seems at first to be a pretty simple fighting system.
While the voice acting and additional quality-of-life upgrades are great, it’s a shame that Square Enix didn’t include extra jobs (and characters) introduced in other iterations, like the PSP version. Still, it’s another great tactical RPG for the Nintendo Switch, increasingly the best place to play the genre. Fortunately, however, it’s available across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/final-fantasy-tactics-ivalice-chronicles-review-140000972.html?src=rss
So it turns out Meta isn’t a monopoly, at least according to a federal judge. In this episode, we dive into Meta’s victory in the FTC’s antitrust case, which it seems to have won mainly thanks to TikTok’s existence. Also, we chat about the Cloudflare issue that took down a huge portion of the web this week, as well as Roblox’s plan to collect kids’ selfies for age verification. We also carve out some time to chat with the audience and answer your pressing tech questions.
Meta won its antitrust case, will keep control of Instagram and WhatsApp – 2:30
Chat with the Livestream: Flickr’s repository of aughts memories and who uses Facebook anymore – 23:59
The Cloudflare issue that took down a lot of the web? It was a database error – 32:49
Google’s new Gemini 3 model is now available – 34:57
Roblox wants tens of millions of kids to send them a selfie for age verification – 38:27
TikTok’s screen time management function now includes an…affirmation journal? – 41:30
Around Engadget – 43:47
Working on – 50:36
Pop culture picks – 52:27
Host: Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/engadget-podcast-meta-wins-its-massive-antitrust-case-140000660.html?src=rss
An anonymous reader shares a report: “In the 2024-2025 school year, homeschooling continued to grow across the United States, increasing at an average rate of 5.4%,” Angela Watson of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Homeschool Hub wrote earlier this month. “This is nearly three times the pre-pandemic homeschooling growth rate of around 2%.” She added that more than a third of the states from which data is available report their highest homeschooling numbers ever, even exceeding the peaks reached when many public and private schools were closed during the pandemic.
After COVID-19 public health measures were suspended, there was a brief drop in homeschooling as parents and families returned to old habits. That didn’t last long. Homeschooling began surging again in the 2023-2024 school year, with that growth continuing last year. Based on numbers from 22 states (not all states have released data, and many don’t track homeschoolers), four report declines in the ranks of homeschooled children — Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Tennessee — while the others report growth from around 1 percent (Florida and Louisiana) to as high as 21.5 percent (South Carolina).
The latest figures likely underestimate growth in homeschooling since not all DIY families abide by registration requirements where they exist, and because families who use the portable funding available through increasingly popular Education Savings Accounts to pay for homeschooling costs are not counted as homeschoolers in several states, Florida included. As a result, adds Watson, “we consider these counts as the minimum number of homeschooled students in each state.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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At $849, the unlocked 256GB Google Pixel 10 Pro is now at its lowest price yet on Amazon, down from its original $1,099 launch price (according to online price trackers). That’s a significant drop for one of Google’s latest flagship phones.
While the much-hyped AI features don’t quite live up to expectations, the refined hardware and returning core strengths still make this a compelling upgrade for Android users. As Lifehacker’s Associate Tech Editor Michelle Ehrhardt notes in her review, Pixelsnap—Google’s new magnetic charging and accessory system—adds real day-to-day convenience, especially if you’ve ever admired Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem.
The Pixel 10 Pro sticks to what Google does best: excellent cameras, clean design, and long-term software support. Its triple-camera system delivers consistently great results, whether you’re shooting your cat in low light or capturing a skyline at golden hour. The display gets a modest but useful boost in brightness, and now supports Qi2 wireless charging for faster, cable-free top-ups. That said, Google dropped the physical SIM tray in favor of eSIM-only support with the Pixel 10 series. That’s not a problem if your carrier is compatible, but it could be limiting if you switch networks often or travel internationally.
Where it stumbles is in the details you won’t see in a spec sheet. The new AI tools, like voice-assisted summarizing and text generation, feel more like experiments than must-haves. The Tensor G5 chip performs smoothly in general, but reportedly falls behind Snapdragon chips in third-party app performance. Battery life is okay, not great—it’ll get you through the day, but not with much to spare, notes this PCMag review, so power users may need to top up before the end of the day. Still, if you’re already in the Pixel world or looking to switch from another Android phone, this discounted Pixel 10 Pro feels like a confident step forward in all the right ways.
For anyone who wants more screen space or a foldable option, the rest of the Pixel 10 lineup is also discounted for Black Friday. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is going for $899, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is priced at $1,499, down from its original $1,799.
Welcome to Edition 8.20 of the Rocket Report! For the second week in a row, Blue Origin dominated the headlines with news about its New Glenn rocket. After a stunning success November 13 with the launch and landing of the second New Glenn rocket, Jeff Bezos’ space company revealed a roadmap this week showing how engineers will supercharge the vehicle with more engines. Meanwhile, in South Texas, SpaceX took a step toward the first flight of the next-generation Starship rocket. There will be no Rocket Report next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. We look forward to resuming delivery of all the news in space lift the first week of December.
As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Northrop’s Pegasus rocket wins a rare contract. A startup named Katalyst Space Technologies won a $30 million contract from NASA in August to build a robotic rescue mission for the agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in low-Earth orbit. Swift, in space since 2004, is a unique instrument designed to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe. The spacecraft lacks a propulsion system and its orbit is subject to atmospheric drag, and NASA says it is “racing against the clock” to boost Swift’s orbit and extend its lifetime before it falls back to Earth. On Wednesday, Katalyst announced it selected Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket to send the rescue craft into orbit next year.
When you’re taking stock of what you’ve accomplished, it’s easy—and understandable—to get caught up by what you haven’t done or wish you’d done better. After all, that’s how you’ll improve. But you have to remember to recognize wins big and small if you hope to keep yourself motivated.
The balance between positive and negative as it relates to productivity is delicate, but you do always need to take breaks, do things you enjoy, and remember that you’re getting things done, even during stressful times. That’s why you should try creating a “jar of awesome.”
The “jar of awesome” idea comes from Tim Ferriss’ Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers and it’s been popular for some time. Essentially, Ferriss recommends writing your wins down as they occur and putting the slips of paper into a jar. When you need a motivational boost, you can read through them. Visually, the jar even shows you just how much you have accomplished lately.
The idea is to help you focus not just on everything that needs to get done, but on what you’ve already done. It’s similar to keeping an accomplishment journal or updating your resume annually, even when you’re not job-hunting, in that it both motivates you and creates a record of your work. Crucially, it keeps that record in real time. It’s much harder to remember everything you’ve accomplished if you try to do it retrospectively or under duress (as anyone confronted with filling out a year-end performance review knows well). With the jar of awesome, if you’re ever called into a surprise meeting about your work or have a review looming, you already have a list of your accomplishments ready to go.
Actually filling a jar with little scraps of paper is a touch twee and may not be that easy to keep up with when our lifestyles are so increasingly digital. There are plenty of ways to create a “jar” of awesome that don’t involve making your desk look like a Pinterest-inspired 2013 wedding. Try leaving a page or two dedicated to tracking wins in the back of your planner or creating a designated note on your phone. Create a single source of truth (SSOT) or a file on your computer or drive, dedicated to compiling your list of wins and supporting documentation. (Personally, I’m a big on using a notes app. My list of wins lives on my phone, where I can update it in a matter of seconds.)
However you decide to do it, make sure all of the successes are listed somewhere together so the list grows visually. Just glancing at it can be a motivational push, to say nothing of reading through it all. Finally, don’t second-guess yourself when you want to add something. If you picked up the dry cleaning on a stressful day, got all the kids out of the house on time in the morning, or responded to all your emails by the end of the day and it felt good, throw it in. Just because it might seem small in comparison to a big looming project deadline doesn’t mean it wasn’t a win to get it done, so into the jar it goes. The goal is to keep track of just how much you really do accomplish, so don’t leave anything out.
Finally, build your reviews into other elements of your productivity plan. When you’re making SMART goals, for instance,—clearly defining what you want to do, why you want to do it, and when you need it done by—it’s easy to look to past mistakes to see what you need to correct. At the same time, look back on your jar of awesome to see what’s been working for you, so you can incorporate more of those elements into your future planning too.
Once again, this week’s top events come completely from Zwift’s community organizers! We’ve got two popular race series, a couple of feel-good group rides, and an extra-long ride with three pace options. See our picks below!
CTT Winter Series on Zwift
Popular Race of Truth
Cycling Time Trials (CTT) – the national governing body for time trials in England, Scotland, and Wales – launched their Winter Time Trial Series last week on Zwift. It’s proving hugely popular, with over a thousand finishers last week!
Learn all about the Cycling Time Trials Winter Series >
This week, due to popular demand, they’ve expanded their Saturday offering to two different events to accommodate riders in different time zones. Everyone is racing on Watopia’s Triple Twist (24.5km, 201m).
Two time slots on Saturday, November 22
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/cyclingtimetrials
Giant Bagel Rolls Ride – Whitney’s Comeback
Good Cause Endurance
Regular ride leader Whitney Stidham was in a terrible bike crash back in September, and this Saturday is her first Saturday back, leading the 100km Giant Bagel Rolls Ride she’s led in the past. Join her, support her recovery, give her a Ride On, and get some endurance miles in!
Riders will be on Watopia’s Sugar Cookie route for 100km, at a 2.6-2.8 W/kg pace.
Sunday, November 22 @ 2pm UTC/9am ET/6am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5210821
Puchar Polski ZTPL CYCLING CLUB Etap II
Unique Event Popular Polish
This event’s description text is entire in Polish, but it’s also got a lot of signups, earning it a spot on this list!
This is the second stage of a 5-week series which features a unique categorization scheme. Riders are categorized based on Zwift Racing Score, but into just two categories: 0-500, and 500-1000, with the higher category racing a longer route!
0-500 racers will be on Spinfinity (19.5km, 155m) while 500-1000 riders will be on Spinfinity Ultra (35km, 291m).
Saturday, November 22 @ 4pm UTC/11am EST/8am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5197966
GXY – Gaby’s Fabulous 80th Birthday Ride
Popular Happy Birthday Beginner-Friendly
The Galaxy squad is celebrating teammate Gaby’s 80th birthday with a beginner-friendly spin around France’s Three Musketeers route (37.8km, 209m) on Saturday. The ride is not rubberbanded, but will be led at a pace of 1.6-2.2 W/kg.
Lots of riders already signed up for this one, and Galaxy says, “Everyone is welcome! However, we are looking to be especially encouraging to see ladies who are newer to Zwift, those trying to boost their fitness and endurance, or wanting to learn how to get more from their training just like Gaby does!”
Saturday, November 22 @ 3pm UTC/10am EST/7am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5151813
BMTR Flat 100 (Miles)
Popular Ride Legacy Leader Endurance Challenge Kit Unlock
A regularly featured event here on Zwift Insider, the BMTR Flat 100 consistently gets lots of joiners because it’s well-led and run consistently week after week, year after year.
This week’s ride is on Makuri Islands’ Wandering Flats, with three pace groups to choose from.
Saturday, November 22 @ 1:10pm UTC/8:10am EST/5:10am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5210803
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!
Oura is hosting a Black Friday sale on many of its more popular smart rings. Perhaps the most notable deal is for the Oura Ring 4, which is down to $249. This is a discount of 29 percent, as it typically costs $349. The sale applies to the black colorway.
The Ring 4 actually topped our list of the best smart rings, and with good reason. It’s comfortable to wear for long periods of time, which is always nice. It’s a visually striking ring. We also appreciated the size options, as it fits fingers from size 4 to 15.
As for functionality, this smart ring tracks a number of health and fitness metrics. The affiliated app will send out notifications when it thinks you need a rest or to remind you to exercise. It keeps an eye on sleep, heart rate, stress, body temperature, menstrual cycle and a whole lot more. The battery lasts around a week, which is always nice when taking a quick vacation.
The only downside here, and this applies to all Oura rings, is that many features are locked behind a subscription paywall. This costs $6 a month or $70 per year.
The company is also selling the gold version of the Ring 4 for $349, which is a discount of $50. The water-resistant Stealth Oura Ring 4 is down to $299, which is a discount of $100.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/oura-smart-rings-are-up-to-30-percent-off-for-black-friday-123010223.html?src=rss
KDE Spectacle received the new OCR functionality. Now you can copy text directly from your screenshots in Linux!
In letters sent to Apple, Google, and Microsoft this week, Pornhub’s parent company urged the tech giants to support device-based age verification in their app stores and across their operating systems, WIRED has learned.
“Based on our real-world experience with existing age assurance laws, we strongly support the initiative to protect minors online,” reads the letter sent by Anthony Penhale, chief legal officer for Aylo, which owns Pornhub, Brazzers, Redtube, and YouPorn. “However, we have found site-based age assurance approaches to be fundamentally flawed and counterproductive.”
The letter adds that site-based age verification methods have “failed to achieve their primary objective: protecting minors from accessing age-inappropriate material online.” Aylo says device-based authentication is a better solution for this issue because once a viewer’s age is determined via phone or tablet, their age signal can be shared over its application programming interface (API) with adult sites.
Happy Friday! As the annual tech discount chaos of Black Friday approaches (good deal here and here and several more here), European policymakers have proposed easing some of the EU’s strictest regulations on artificial intelligence and data privacy. The move aims to remove roadblocks for tech companies and stimulate business growth in the region, potentially marking a major pivot away from the bloc’s reputation as the industry’s toughest regulator.
Changes would allow AI companies to access shared personal data to train their models, while also overhauling GDPR cookie rules. Instead of constant pop-ups, users could set preferences once in their browser and give consent with a single click. (OK, I’m onboard with that.)
Strict rules for “high-risk” AI applications, originally set for next summer, may be delayed until proper support tools are in place. Critics are warning this could be seen as Europe bowing to pressure from Big Tech and political shifts in the US. The proposal now heads to the European Parliament.
— Mat Smith
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A company selling AI-enabled toys suspended sales after a consumer safety report found few restrictions on what its toys would say. The report, by the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, found FoloToy’s products would discuss everything from sexually explicit topics, like BDSM, to “advice on where a child can find matches or knives.” The toys all appear to use OpenAI’s GPT-4o model to respond naturally to children’s questions and comments. Missing from that setup was apparently hard limits on subjects the toys would respond to.
FoloToy has opted to suspend sales of its products while it conducts “a company-wide, end-to-end safety audit across all products.”
xAI is once again nuking a bunch of posts from Grok on X after the chatbot made a series of outrageous claims. The company isn’t only cleaning up a bunch of pro-Hitler posts but also a bout of cringe-inducing sycophantic praise for its CEO, Elon Musk. Over the last couple of days, Grok began offering extremely over-the-top opinions about Musk. The bot claimed Musk is the “undisputed pinnacle of holistic fitness” and that he is fitter than LeBron James (hah!). It also said he is smarter than Einstein and would win a fight against Mike Tyson.
Musk is blaming “adversarial prompting” for Grok going off the rails. “Earlier today, Grok was unfortunately manipulated by adversarial prompting into saying absurdly positive things about me,” he wrote. He did not explain how straightforward questions could be considered “adversarial.”
Two years ago, Ooni attempted the indoor pizza-making party with the Volt 12. It had its flaws, but there were enough redeeming features (and interest) to warrant a follow up. The Volt 2 ($699) is a complete overhaul, with a slicker design, which is slightly smaller than the first generation. It’s also cheaper than the original. Read on for the full review.
The Chrono Divide project (via PC Gamer) lets you play the 2000 RTS Red Alert 2 in Chrome, Edge or Safari. It even works in mobile browsers. It supports cross-platform multiplayer using all the original maps. Red Alert 2’s single-player campaign modes are still a work in progress for now. The project’s website said: “The end-goal is reaching feature parity with the original vanilla Red Alert 2 engine.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121535805.html?src=rss
During the pre-dawn hours in South Texas on Friday morning, SpaceX’s next-generation Starship first stage suffered some sort of major damage during pre-launch testing.
The company had only rolled the massive rocket out of the factory a day earlier, noting the beginning of its test campaign said on the social media site X: “The first operations will test the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength.”
That testing commenced on Thursday night at the Massey’s Test Site, a couple of miles down the road from the company’s main production site at Starbase Texas. However an independent video showed the rocket’s lower half undergo an explosive (or possibly implosive) event at 4:04 am CT (10:04 UTC) Friday.
LAUNCH COMPLEX 14, Cape Canaveral, Fla.—The platform atop the hulking steel tower offered a sweeping view of Florida’s rich, sandy coastline and brilliant blue waves beyond. Yet as captivating as the vista might be for an aspiring rocket magnate like Andy Lapsa, it also had to be a little intimidating.
To his right, at Launch Complex 13 next door, a recently returned Falcon 9 booster stood on a landing pad. SpaceX has landed more than 500 large orbital rockets. And next to SpaceX sprawled the launch site operated by Blue Origin. Its massive New Glenn rocket is also reusable, and founder Jeff Bezos has invested tens of billions of dollars into the venture.
Looking to the left, Lapsa saw a graveyard of sorts for commercial startups. Launch Complex 15 was leased to a promising startup, ABL Space, two years ago. After two failed launches, ABL Space pivoted away from commercial launch. Just beyond lies Launch Complex 16, where Relativity Space aims to launch from. The company has already burned through $4 billion in its efforts to reach orbit. Had billionaire Eric Schmidt not stepped in earlier this year, Relativity would have gone bankrupt.
