You can save big today on a new Roomba. The flagship Roomba Max 705 + AutoEmpty dock, which launched in April, is available for $320 off. The robovac, which typically costs $899, is on sale for $579. Enter our exclusive code ENG320 at checkout to snag the deal.
iRobot says the Roomba Max 705 offers 180 times the suction power of its budget Roomba 600. The high-end model has dual multi-surface rubber brushes with an anti-tangle design. That could be especially handy for pet owners.
The robovac includes an edge-sweeping brush to handle corners and edges. There’s also a feature called Carpet Boost that automatically increases suction when it reaches carpet. And it uses LiDAR for precision navigation and obstacle avoidance.
The AutoEmpty dock lives up to its name, allowing the vacuum to dump its own debris automatically. iRobot says it can do that for up to 75 days before you need to manually empty the dock.
This model doesn’t mop, which may be harder for some to justify at its typical $899. But for $579, a high-powered vacuum with an auto-emptying dock starts to look more sensible. Just remember that code: ENG320.
Roomba Plus 405 Combo
iRobot
If you’re looking for something more affordable (but with a different feature set), there’s the Roomba Plus 405 Combo. Although its suction isn’t as powerful as the aforementioned 705 model, this one does mop. Its AutoWash dock supports up to 45 days of auto-emptying and four weeks of mopping and pad washing before requiring your attention.
The iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo robot + AutoWash dock typically retails for $799. With our code ENG320, you can have it for $479.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/roomba-robot-vacuums-are-more-than-300-off-right-now-130043860.html?src=rss
Longtime Slashdot reader hackingbear writes: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that he says will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns. Trump’s order will enable an American-led of group of investors to “buy the app” (up to 80% ownership) from China’s ByteDance, though the deal is not yet finalized and also requires China’s approval. However, much about the deal is still unknown. So, did the U.S. successfully snatch TikTok from ByteDance? It is probably up to individual’s interpretation.
As with any deals between U.S. and China, the devil is in the details. According Shen Yi, an internet influencer and a professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, what the U.S. investor will eventually take control of is an entity known as TikTok U.S. Data Security Company (“USDS”), which is a subsidiary of TikTok U.S. and is exclusively responsible to handle data security in the U.S.. ByteDance will continue, through its U.S. subsidiary “ByteDance TikTok U.S. Company,” to operate business and other related activities (such as e-commerce, advertising for brands, and cross-border commercial activities). It is important to stress that “Byte TikTok U.S. Company” remains 100% owned by ByteDance through its global TikTok subsidiary — this arrangement has not changed. The TikTok algorithm remains the property of ByteDance, only licensed to USDS for use. This point was in fact explicitly clarified by a relevant official of China’s Cyberspace Administration at the press conference following the Madrid talks.
After reaching the TikTok deal, Beijing and Washington are now selling it to their respective domestic audience, each highlighting the part of the deal that it can characterize as a win. Shen’s details are not in conflict with the widely-reported account given by Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, who emphasized “a new board with six American directors out of seven.” Observers can also find the TikTok arrangement being very similar to that of Apple’s iCloud operation in China being run by GCBD (AIPO Cloud (Guizhou) Technology Co. Ltd.) while Apple retain controls of the brand and business.
When a home security camera drops to half its price, it usually means you’re giving up something in return. With the Blink Mini 2, that’s not the case. It’s currently $19.99 on Amazon, down from $39.99, which is the lowest price it’s ever been, according to price trackers.
For a camera that can be used indoors or outdoors (with a $9.99 weather-resistant power adapter, sold separately or bundled), that’s compelling. The Mini 2 is tiny (just two inches square) but packs a 143-degree field of view, more than the first-gen model’s 110 degrees. During the day, the 1080p video looks crisp and colorful. At night, it offers both black-and-white infrared and color vision thanks to a built-in LED spotlight. The color mode isn’t perfect (hues aren’t as vibrant as daylight footage), but it gives more detail than plain grayscale.
Blink leaned into small upgrades with the Mini 2 that make a noticeable difference. The custom-built chip inside allows features such as smart notifications and person detection, so the camera can tell whether it spotted a person, package, or pet. The catch is you’ll need a subscription for that. The Blink Basic Plan runs $3.99 per month per camera ($39.99 annually) and gives you 60 days of video history, smart alerts, activity zones, and extended live streams. The Plus Plan, at $11.99 monthly ($119.99 annually), covers unlimited cameras. Without a plan, you’re limited to live viewing, unless you pick up a Sync Module 2 ($49.99) and an SD card for local storage.
The Blink Mini 2 also fits neatly into smart homes, at least if you use Alexa. It supports voice commands and IFTTT integrations, but not Google Home or Apple HomeKit. That could be a deal breaker if you’re invested in those platforms. Setup is straightforward through the Blink’s companion app, and you can adjust everything from motion sensitivity to light brightness within the settings. Performance is solid for the price, but reviews note black-and-white night footage isn’t as sharp as competing budget cameras like the TP-Link Tapo C120 or Eufy Indoor Cam. Still, for $19.99, you’re getting flexible placement, decent video quality, and features that usually live behind higher price tags.
Welcome to Edition 8.12 of the Rocket Report! We often hear from satellite operators—from the military to venture-backed startups—about their appetite for more launch capacity. With so many rocket launches happening around the world, some might want to dismiss these statements as a corporate plea for more competition, and therefore lower prices. SpaceX is on pace to launch more than 150 times this year. China could end the year with more than 70 orbital launches. These are staggering numbers compared to global launch rates just a few years ago. But I’m convinced there’s room for more alternatives for reliable (and reusable) rockets. All of the world’s planned mega-constellations will need immense launch capacity just to get off the ground, and if successful, they’ll go into regular replacement and replenishment cycles. Throw in the still-undefined Golden Dome missile shield and many nations’ desire for a sovereign launch capability, and it’s easy to see the demand curve going up.
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.
Sharp words from Astra’s Chris Kemp. Chris Kemp, the chief executive officer of Astra, apparently didn’t get the memo about playing nice with his competitors in the launch business. Kemp made some spicy remarks at the Berkeley Space Symposium 2025 earlier this month, billed as the largest undergraduate aerospace event at the university (see video of the talk). During the speech, Kemp periodically deviated from building up Astra to hurling insults at several of his competitors in the launch industry, Ars reports. To be fair to Kemp, some of his criticisms are not without a kernel of truth. But they are uncharacteristically rough all the same, especially given Astra’s uneven-at-best launch record and financial solvency to date.
Buying a car in America is usually a hellish experience involving pushy salespeople, mysterious fees, and hours-long financing negotiations. That’s something Carvana aimed to solve with its online used car marketplace when it launched 13 years ago. In this episode, Devindra chats with Carvana Chief Product Officer Dan Gill about how the company moved beyond the flashy marketing of its early car vending machines, and how it’s still trying to perfect the online car buying experience. We also dive into some of the issues the company has faced – including delayed registrations and vehicle issues – and how it’s trying to learn from them.
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar Guest: Dan Gill Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/engadget-podcast-how-carvana-is-trying-to-fix-the-broken-car-buying-world-123045020.html?src=rss
It’s been three weeks since the last Calibre release, and now Calibre 8.11 has been released today as the latest stable version of this open-source, free, and cross-platform e-book management software.
The Raspberry Pi 500 (and 400) systems are versions of the Raspberry Pi built for people who use the Raspberry Pi as a general-purpose computer rather than a hobbyist appliance. Now the company is leaning into that even more with the Raspberry Pi 500+, an amped-up version of the keyboard computer with 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB, a 256GB NVMe SSD instead of microSD storage, and a fancier keyboard with mechanical switches, replaceable keycaps, and individually programmable RGB LEDs.
The computer is currently available to purchase from the usual suspects like CanaKit and Micro Center, and generally starts at $200, twice the price of the Pi 500.
Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton’s blog post about the 500+ says that the upgraded version of the computer has been in the works since the regular 500 was released last year.
This weekend’s big events are the kickoff to Zwift’s 2025/26 Fondo Series. But we’ve also selected two unique races and two unique group rides, none of which we’ve featured before. Check them all out below!
zFondo Series on Bambino Fondo
Bonus XP Popular Endurance Challenge
Zwift’s popular monthly Fondo Series is back, and it kicks off this weekend! This is by far the most popular event happening this weekend, so if you’re looking for a longer effort you can race if desired, this is it.
The folks at Team Evolve have spun up a new weekly ride concept where the purpose is to progressively ride longer (5km added each week) until you hit 100 miles in March.
This weekend is the first ride of the series: 30km on France’s R.G.V.
Based on early signup numbers, this new race series looks to be a popular one. It’s a 4-stage series, raced each weekend, with mass starts and not categories. And it begins this week with the first stage on Greatest London Flat (31km, 222m).
Enter individual races for the fun of it, or compete in all four stages. There’s a GC on ZwiftPower which uses cumulative time to rank riders across the series!
Looks like Team Evolve gets two features this weekend! On Sunday, they’re hosting a three-race omnium that will take a total of ~95 minutes to complete. You earn points based on your finishing position in each of the race, then the rider with the most points in each category wins the Omnium.
This is a three-race series:
Race 1 Croissant 12.5km iTT
Race 2 Petite Douleur 24.8km
Race 3 The Bell Lap 8km 4-lap crit
Bike are neutralized – same weight, CdA, and upgrade level. As always, be sure to read event description for more details.
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
Is it for a good cause?
Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
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!
Microsoft has finally revealed how much the ROG Xbox Ally handheld consoles will cost you, now that they’re available for preorder. The ROG Xbox Ally X, which the company describes as the “ultimate high-performance handheld” that’s “built for the most demanding players,” will set you back $1,000.
Meanwhile, the ROG Xbox Ally “for everyone from the casual player to the avid enthusiast” is priced at $600, and you can pre-order that model from other retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. They’re a bit more expensive than ASUS’ regular ROG Ally systems, which are priced from $500 to $800.
The company unveiled the devices during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest in June, with the promise that it was going to be available by this year’s holiday shopping season. It revealed a couple of months later that the consoles will be on store shelves by October 16, but it didn’t announce their prices until now.
Microsoft teamed up with ASUS’ ROG division to develop the handhelds. They’re powered by Windows 11 and lets you play any Xbox game you’ve purchased, whether you bought it on your console or your computer, as well as PC games from any store that you install directly on the device. You can use it to stream Xbox games from your console anywhere in your home or from the Xbox Cloud Gaming service. And yes, you’ll be able to continue where you left off when you jump from one device to another. At launch, Xbox will mark thousands of games as Handheld Optimized or Mostly Compatible to indicate if they play well on handhelds.
In the US, you can preorder the consoles from the Xbox website, ASUS’ website or from local retailers like Best Buy. A SanDisk microSD card designed specifically for the handhelds and a SeaGate SSD that supports Microsoft DirectStorage are now also available for preorder.
You can also preorder the consoles in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand and Ukraine. All these markets, including the US, are getting the console on October 16. The handhelds will be available in additional markets in the future, as well, namely in Brazil, China, India, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Philippines and Switzerland.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/the-rog-xbox-ally-x-handheld-gaming-device-will-cost-you-1000-120029250.html?src=rss
In late 2017, a study by Krefeld Entomological Society looked at protected areas across Germany and discovered that two-thirds of the insect populations living in there had vanished over the last 25 years. The results spurred the media to declare we’re living through an “insect apocalypse,” but the reasons behind their absence were unclear. Now, a joint team of Japanese and Australian scientists have completed a new, multi-year study designed to get us some answers.
Insect microcosm
“In our work, we focused on ants because we have systematic ways for collecting them,” says Alexander Mikheyev, an evolutionary biologist at the Australian National University. “They are also a group with the right level of diversity, where you have enough species to do comparative studies.” Choosing the right location, he explained, was just as important. “We did it in Fiji, because Fiji had the right balance between isolation—which gave us a discrete group of animals to study—but at the same time was diverse enough to make comparisons,” Mikheyev adds.
Thus, the Fijian archipelago, with its 330 islands, became the model the team used to get some insights into insect population dynamics. A key difference from the earlier study was that Mikheyev and his colleagues could look at those populations across thousands of years, not just the last 25.
You’ll see the results next year, but it’s not the end of Googly lappiesVideo Google has confirmed it will merge its ChromeOS and Android operating systems, and that the mobile OS will emerge triumphant.…
After being on a hiatus for more than one year and going through several rounds of Habana Labs driver maintainers due to Intel layoffs, there finally is some updated “habanalabs” AI accelerator kernel driver code slated to go into the upcoming Linux 6.18 kernel cycle. There is some new feature work but still no Gaudi 3 support for the upstream Linux kernel…
Just a friendly reminder that our autumn promotion is ending in a few days for those wishing to join Phoronix Premium at a discounted rate. Less than 1% of readers currently do so for helping to support the site and its Linux hardware testing and open-source news operations over the past 21 years. Joining Phoronix Premium gets you ad-free access, multi-page articles on a single page, custom forum avatar support, and other benefits all while helping for operations to continue during this difficult period for the web/ad industry…
The Linux 6.18 kernel is bringing a new patch to benefit those using the decade-old AMD Bulldozer processors and wanting to make use of Linux’s X86_NATIVE_CPU build option for enhancing performance in some areas by optimizing the kernel build for your particular processor/ISA capabilities…
Longtime Slashdot reader whoever57 writes: Birmingham City Council, the largest such entity in Europe, has been declared effectively bankrupt. There are a couple of reasons for this, but one of them is a disastrous project to replace the city’s income management system using Oracle. The cost of this has risen to $230 million, while the initial estimate was $24 million. There was a failed rollout of the new system earlier this year. “Original plans for the replacement of SAP with Oracle Fusion set aside a 19.965 million-euro budget for three years implementation until the end of the 2021 financial year,” reports The Register. “Go-live date was later put back until April 2022 and the budget increased to 40 million euros. After the council realized it would need to reimplement all of Oracle, the budget for running the old system and introducing the new one increased to 131 million euros.”
“In a hastily convened Audit Committee meeting this week, councilor heard how that date has now been put back until November, expressing their anger that the news hit the media before they were told.” Testing failed with only a 73.3% pass rate and 10 severe deficits, “below the acceptance criteria of a 95 percent pass rate and zero severe deficits.
On Wednesday, American customs officials revealed that they will block the import of bicycles manufactured in Taiwan by Giant Bicycles after a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigation “that reasonably indicates forced labour use”.
The CBP alleges that it has identified five ‘forced labour indications’ during an investigation of Giant, including debt bondage, where a person is forced to work to pay off a debt.
For investigative journalist Peter Bengtsen, this is not a surprise. “The risk of debt bondage,” he told BikeRadar, “is the rule, not the exception, for migrants employed in Taiwan’s bicycle and other industries.”
Bengtsen has led investigations into the labour conditions of Taiwan’s bicycle, car, electronic and other industries. Between 2022 and 2025, Bengtsen and his team conducted 200 interviews with migrant workers, gathering testimonies that covered debt bondage and other forced labour indicators.
Bengtsen’s work investigating labour conditions in the Taiwanese cycling industry was published in Le Monde diplomatique in June 2024 and February 2025.
His piece from 2024 asked whether major cycling brands were overlooking forced labour risks. Around a dozen of Giant’s migrant employees were interviewed for the story, with Bergtsen reporting that Vietnamese employees said they paid $5,700 to home-country recruiters, while Thai employees said they paid up to $3,200.
Following the CBP’s announcement, Giant said it was “firmly committed to upholding human rights and labour protections”. Warren Rossiter / OurMedia
Bengtsen reported in his story from earlier this year, ‘The Bicycle industry’s dirty secret’, that one Vietnamese employee had paid $5,500. “I had to pay up front. I borrowed everything from the bank and mortgaged the house,” they said.
“Migrant workers in Taiwan are vulnerable to forced labour due to several factors, of which high recruitment fees and limited freedom to change employers are key,” Bengtsen told BikeRadar.
“For decades, workers hired from abroad have paid exorbitant fees to home-country recruiters and Taiwanese labour brokers for jobs and services. As a result, workers borrow significantly from banks and money lenders, often at excessive interest rates, and thereby risk debt bondage while working in Taiwan to pay off loans.
“Other migrant vulnerabilities include language barriers, lack of knowledge of laws and rights, lack of support measures or knowledge thereof, and lack of organisation and representation. Fear of repatriation for speaking up adds to the vulnerabilities,” he went on.
Following Bengtsen’s second report in Le Monde diplomatique, the publication received a statement from the Taiwanese Bicycle Association (TBA), an industry trade association that represents companies engaged in exporting bicycles, components and accessories.
The TBA said: “Taiwanese companies have strictly abided by the labour regulations in Taiwan, which nonetheless, may in one way or another, differ from the international method and reference for betterment. We would always obey Taiwan’s labour law and try our very best when there’s room for improvement.”
Giant said it will file a petition to seek the revocation of the import ban, and that it is “firmly committed to upholding human rights and labour protections”.
It said it has taken “concrete actions” in the last year, including the implementation of a Zero Recruitment Fee Policy and upgrading employee housing to provide a “safer and more comfortable living environment.”
Many of the world’s biggest bicycle brands have had bikes or components made in Taiwan. The country is the biggest exporter of bikes to Europe, and trade data shows 28 per cent of bikes imported to the US in 2022 came from Taiwan.
The US can ban imports of goods if they are suspected of being made as a result of forced labour. The country has imposed regulations on imports from China’s Xinjiang region, because members of the minority Uyghur community have been detained and forced to work, according to US officials.
The CBP’s statement says Giant has “profited by imposing such abuse… resulting in goods produced below market value and undercutting American businesses by millions of dollars in unjustly earned profits”.
CBP’s statement echoes the logic behind Donald Trump’s tariff trade war earlier this year, which aimed to make it harder for foreign companies to compete in the US. One trade organisation called the tariffs “devastating” for the US bicycle industry.
Overnight the Linux PC vendor System76 released their long-awaited Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS Beta operating system along with the beta milestone of their COSMIC desktop environment…
Raspberry Pi 500+ is the newest all-in-one personal computer in the Raspberry Pi family. It combines the Raspberry Pi 5 platform with a mechanical keyboard, upgraded memory, and integrated storage. The design builds on the earlier Raspberry Pi 400 and 500 models while adding higher specifications and new input features. The Raspberry Pi 500+ is […]
Tom Mason is Head of Mathematics and Head of ICT at St Joseph’s College, an all-boys secondary school in South East London. He is passionate about teaching and learning, and has a keen interest in digital education practices.
Mr Mason recently set his Year 10 students a creative coding challenge, which they completed using our Code Editor for Education. The challenge not only boosted student engagement, but also showcased the effectiveness of open-ended, student-led learning in computer science education.
Challenges in the classroom
Teaching coding in a classroom setting presents a unique set of challenges, with one of the most significant being the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Instead of engaging deeply with concepts like loops, conditions, and sorting algorithms, students now increasingly rely on AI tools to generate entire blocks of code for them, without understanding their functions.
Meanwhile, traditional teacher-led instruction methods that focus on isolated coding concepts like inputs and outputs often leave students disconnected from the practical and creative aspects of programming.
Against this backdrop, Mr Mason wanted to give his students the opportunity to:
Apply their Python knowledge in meaningful ways
Collaborate and problem-solve independently
Explore unfamiliar programming concepts in a guided but open-ended fashion
The project
Mr Mason set a simple but powerful brief:
“Over three lessons, build a quiz that asks 10 questions about what you’ve learnt on the course.”
With this simple instruction, Mr Mason gave students a clear idea about what to do, while giving them the freedom to design their quiz however they liked. Students were also told that:
Their 10 quiz questions had to relate to Python
After creating their quiz, their classmates would give feedback based on key criteria (how well the code worked, the level of creativity, the user experience, etc.)
To complete the project, students usedthe Code Editor for Education. Created in collaboration with educators and built purposefully for the classroom, the Code Editor supports a range of teaching styles and learning abilities. Its simple interface encourages students to engage with the logic behind their code — they can’t rely on autocomplete.
Results
The open-ended structure led to an explosion of creativity and problem-solving. Without step-by-step instructions, students had to independently explore solutions to questions like:
“How do I randomise questions?”
“How can I hide quiz answers in a separate file?”
Some students created multi-file Python projects, separating the logic controlling how the quiz worked from the content, or static information. For example, some students created one file to store the player’s answers and another file to manage the quiz interface and score logic. Students also created other advanced features:
Score tracking based on speed of response
Use of external Python libraries
Custom input and output formatting
Algorithms to randomly order quiz questions
All students met the base requirements, but the open-ended nature of the project allowed more advanced students to push the boundaries, without the need for additional scaffolding.
Educator reflection
“They couldn’t just Google the answer; they had to think critically and test ideas. That’s what made it powerful.”
Mr Mason noted that the project’s success was due in large part to the flexibility and responsiveness of the Code Editor. Students could iterate quickly, test their ideas, and collaborate, all within a platform built for classroom coding.
“It was the most successful thing I’ve done. I’ll definitely be doing it again every year.”
Key takeaways
Project-based learning fosters deeper engagement and knowledge, and creative application of programming concepts.
Open-ended prompts empower students to explore and develop their own solutions.
Code Editor for Education encourages thoughtful questions and experimentation rather than reliance on autocomplete solutions. With built-in class management and project tools, it offers a safe, browser-based environment ideal for coding in the classroom.
Join St Joseph’s College and the 1300+ other schools helping their students build a strong foundation in text-based programming with the Code Editor for Education.
zFondo Series on Bambino Fondo
Bonus XP 
HISP London Minitour, Stage 1
