Enlarge / Tesla-style plugs are coming to ChargePoint chargers. (credit: ChargePoint)

Tesla drivers will soon have a new place to fast-charge their electric vehicles. Today, the charging network ChargePoint announced it will have Tesla-style North American Charging Standard support for both its AC and DC chargers over the next few weeks. And in November, it will start shipping NACS cable upgrade kits for existing DC fast chargers, which will allow Tesla EVs to charge at those ChargePoint DC fast chargers.

“We’ve already said we’re already taking preorders on the home charger, and then over the next few weeks, we’ll start shipping the fast-charge cables to preorder customers that have our fast chargers, and you can already order a new fast charger with NACS cables on,” said Pasquale Romano, ChargePoint’s CEO.

“We think the most important difference is we do not make our customers decide by parking space whether the cable is NACS or CCS. I think that’s a mess and no one should do that. No one should have a dedicated parking space because you’ll never get the ratio right, and it will change over time. So every solution that we have is going to enable both connector types per parking space,” he told Ars.

Enlarge (credit: Miragec/Getty Images)

Screenshot of the malicious ad hosted on Google. (credit: Malwarebytes)

Looking at the ad, which masquerades as a pitch for the open-source password manager Keepass, there’s no way to know that it’s fake. It’s on Google, after all, which claims to vet the ads it carries. Making the ruse all the more convincing, clicking on it leads to ķeepass[.]info, which when viewed in an address bar appears to be the genuine Keepass site.

Screenshot showing keepass.info in the URL and Keepass logo. (credit: Malwarebytes)

A closer link at the link, however, shows that the site is not the genuine one. In fact, ķeepass[.]info —at least when it appears in the address bar—is just an encoded way of denoting xn--eepass-vbb[.]info, which it turns out, is pushing a malware family tracked as FakeBat. Combining the ad on Google with a website with an almost identical URL creates a near perfect storm of deception.

Enlarge / The four private astronauts who flew into orbit with SpaceX on the Inspiration4 mission in 2021, the first fully commercial human spaceflight mission to low-Earth orbit. (credit: Inspiration4/John Kraus)

A nearly 20-year moratorium on federal regulations regarding the safety of passengers on commercial human spaceflight missions is set to expire on January 1. It was scheduled to lapse at the beginning of October, but Congress added a three-month extension to a stopgap spending bill signed into law to prevent a government shutdown.

That allows a bit more time for lawmakers to write a more comprehensive commercial space bill addressing several issues important to the commercial space industry. These include industry-wide concerns about the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to quickly license commercial launch and reentry operations, a hurdle SpaceX is eager to overcome as it waits for FAA approval to launch the second full-scale test flight of its giant Starship rocket.

Enlarge / Apple’s Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Pro cable connector in its reinforced, grounded metal shell (left) and its single-piece crimped cable strain relief (right). (credit: Lumafield)

When Apple finally made the move to USB-C, it did so in a very Apple way. That includes the offering of a $130 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Pro cable, one that’s actually $160 if you need the full 3 meters. Could one cable, an object whose job is to transfer power and data and be completely unnoticed, be worth that kind of cash?

Lumafield, maker of manufacturing-minded industrial CT scanners, studied this question across three dimensions. After scanning Apple’s top-of-the-line cable, a $10 Amazon Basics model, and USB-C cables costing $5.59 and $3.89, Lumafield had no definitive answer other than “we buy cables that meet our needs” and that “there’s plenty of room for clever engineering and efficient manufacturing” inside a seemingly defined spec like USB-C.

But we can say that if your goal is to buy one cable that will hold up to abuse, work with the power and data speeds of today and a reasonably distant tomorrow, and remove cables from your list of things that might be the problem? Lumafield’s images show why Apple’s alpha-cable might just be worth it.

Enlarge (credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tesla posted its financial results for the third quarter of 2023 on Wednesday afternoon. It’s not been the best three months for the company—Tesla is still profitable, but its margins are shrinking, and its expenses are rising, both consistent trends since the start of the year. It also delivered fewer cars than in Q2 and will need to find homes for nearly half a million more EVs by the end of the year if it’s to keep to its target of 1.8 million cars in 2023.

Tesla brought in $23.4 billion in total revenue for Q3 2023, a 9 percent increase year over year. But gross profits are down 22 percent year over year, with net income decreasing 44 percent, despite Tesla selling more than 90,000 electric vehicles in Q3 2023 than Q2 2022. Tesla has engaged in several rounds of price cuts in the US and abroad and says that currency fluctuations also cost the company $400 million.

But there were some bright spots on the balance sheet. Automotive regulatory credit revenues doubled to $554 million for Q3, and its energy generation and storage business, as well as its services, increased their revenues slightly. Tesla has also increased its R&D spending to $1.2 billion. Tesla’s cash, cash equivalents, and investments also grew by $3 billion to $26.1 billion. And the company says it continues to reduce the cost of goods sold per vehicle.

Enlarge (credit: Westend61 | Westend61)

Kiwi Farms—a website credited with launching a range of targeted harassment campaigns, which Cloudflare considers its most dangerous customer ever—has remained online despite immense pressure to dismantle the website. But now it looks like Kiwi Farms may be facing its biggest threat yet. This week, an unexpected court ruling has shown “how copyright law could be a Kiwi Farms killer,” tech law expert Eric Goldman wrote in his blog.

Goldman’s blog analyzed a judgment issued Monday by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which reversed a lower court’s decision to dismiss a copyright lawsuit filed by Russell Greer. According to Greer, Kiwi Farms targeted him with a harassment campaign so extreme that he wrote a book to explain why the harassment should stop. Kiwi Farms then uploaded the book and a song that Greer wrote, allegedly sharing his copyrighted materials to encourage users to continue mocking Greer.

Greer’s troubles with Kiwi Farms started when he sued pop star Taylor Swift in 2016. That’s when Kiwi Farms users “began ‘a relentless harassment campaign,'” Greer alleged, including “direct harassment via phone, email, and social media.” Kiwi Farms’ “schemes” allegedly “successfully got him fired from his workplace and evicted” and led to “the creation of ‘false social media profiles that impersonate him with names … that mock his physical and developmental disabilities.’” Kiwi Farms frequently targets people with physical and mental disabilities, Greer told the court.

Enlarge / Pras Michel performs during the Roots Picnic at The Mann on June 3, 2023, in Philadelphia. (credit: Getty Images | Taylor Hill )

After being convicted of federal crimes related to a foreign influence campaign, rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel says he should get a new trial because his lawyer “used an experimental AI program to write his closing argument.” In a motion for a new trial filed Monday, the Fugees rapper’s new lawyers say Michel’s previous representation used “an experimental AI program in which they had a financial stake to write the closing argument, resulting in a frivolous and ineffectual closing argument.”

Michel was represented at trial by defense counsel David Kenner, who is accused of failing to provide a cogent defense and misattributing two songs to the Fugees. The allegations about Kenner’s use of AI are reminiscent of a previous incident in which a lawyer admitted using ChatGPT to help write court filings that cited six nonexistent cases invented by the artificial intelligence tool.

According to the motion for a new trial, “Kenner failed to familiarize himself with the charged statutes, causing him to overlook critical weaknesses in the Government’s case,” and he “did not understand the facts or allegations.”

Enlarge / A view of the stage at TED AI 2023 on October 17, 2023, at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. (credit: Benj Edwards)

SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, dozens of speakers gathered in San Francisco for the first TED conference devoted solely to the subject of artificial intelligence, TED AI. Many speakers think that human-level AI—often called AGI, for artificial general intelligence—is coming very soon, although there was no solid consensus about whether it will be beneficial or dangerous to humanity. But that debate was just Act One of a very long series of 30-plus talks that organizer Chris Anderson called possibly “the most TED content in a single day” presented in TED’s nearly 40-year history.

Hosted by Anderson and entrepreneur Sam De Brouwer, the first day of TED AI 2023 featured a marathon of speakers split into four blocks by general subject: Intelligence & Scale, Synthetics & Realities, Autonomy & Dependence, and Art & Storytelling. (Wednesday featured panels and workshops.) Overall, the conference gave a competent overview of current popular thinking related to AI that very much mirrored Ars Technica’s reporting on the subject over the past 10 months.

Indeed, some of the TED AI speakers covered subjects we’ve previously reported on as they happened, including Stanford PhD student Joon Sung Park’s Smallville simulation, and Yohei Nakajima’s BabyAGI, both in April of this year. Controversy and angst over impending AGI or AI superintelligence were also strongly represented in the first block of talks, with optimists like veteran AI computer scientist Andrew Ng painting AI as “the new electricity” and nothing to fear, contrasted with a far more cautious take from leather-bejacketed AI researcher Max Tegmark, saying, “I never thought governments would let AI get this far without regulation.”

Enlarge

As of November 8, coins like the “MOON” that r/CryptoCurrency used for tips, premium features, and even voting shares will be removed from users’ Vaults. Noticing this, the value of most Reddit-based coins took a nearly straight drop on Tuesday after Reddit’s announcements. MOON was trading just over $0.20 at 1 pm Eastern, shortly before the announcement in its subreddit. Shortly before 3 pm, MOON had dropped just below $0.02, a loss of more than 85 percent, with fellow Reddit currencies BRICK (r/FortNiteBR) and DONUT (r/EthTrader) seeing similarly precipitous plunges.

MOON’s price, as seen on TradingView, during the day when Reddit announced its sunsetting of Community Points, such as MOON. (credit: TradingView)

While most people likely never noticed the loss of their Community Points, some who actively acquired them, or even bought more on the blockchain, are reporting losses of thousands of dollars. Conspiratorial claims of Reddit having “rugged” the currencies—pulling money from the system before a sudden shutdown—floated on social media.

Enlarge / Google’s new malware scanner for sideloaded apps. (credit: Google)

The Google Play Store might not be perfect for stopping Android malware, but its collection of scanning, app reviews, and developer requirements makes it a lot safer than the wider, unfiltered Internet. The world outside Google’s walled garden has no rules at all and offers a countless number of questionable apps available for sideloading. To help combat the surge of sideloaded malware, Google Play can now pop up a malware scanner at install time if it decides the app you’re trying to sideload is interesting.

Google Play’s malware system, called “Google Play Protect,” has always been able to check sideloaded apps for malware, but it used faster techniques like a definition file, and this happened quietly in the background. This new technique will delay your app installation with a full-screen “scanning” interface while Google runs a deep scan of the app code. Google’s blog post says this is “real-time scanning at the code-level to combat novel malicious apps” and that Google Play Protect can “recommend a real-time app scan when installing apps that have never been scanned before to help detect emerging threats.”

The scan will involve sending bits and pieces of the app to Google for analysis. Google says:

Enlarge / A PC running Windows 11. (credit: Microsoft)

As we’ve written before, Windows 11’s adoption among PC users has been a bit slower than Windows 10’s, and that has continued into the operating system’s second year. Internal Microsoft data obtained by Windows Central claims that Windows 11 is currently in use on around 400 million PCs, almost exactly two years after the operating system’s October 2021 release.

Windows 10 had been installed on over 500 million systems by its second birthday, which backs up data we’ve seen from sources like Statcounter and the Steam Hardware Survey—Windows 11 just isn’t being adopted at the same rate as its predecessor. Worldwide Windows market share data from Statcounter suggests that Windows 11 runs on between 23 and 24 percent of Windows PCs, compared to 72 percent for Windows 10, and Statcounter shows Windows 11’s growth has stagnated in recent months. Still, Windows 11’s numbers are said to surpass Microsoft’s internal expectations.

It’s difficult to directly compare Windows 10’s adoption rate and Windows 11’s. Windows 10 was explicitly intended to run on any system that could already run Windows 7 and Windows 8, the two most popular versions of the operating system at the time of its release. Microsoft also offered it to those users as a free upgrade for one year, a then-unprecedented move meant to spur people to upgrade their existing PCs rather than wait to get Windows 10 on a new one. By contrast, Windows 11’s system requirements generally limit it to PCs released in or after late 2017 and 2018, cutting off a large number of PCs that are running Windows 10 just fine.

Enlarge / The ThinkPad P1 showing off its ThinkPad branding. (credit: Lenovo)

Today’s Dealmaster ranges from Lenovo laptops to Lego toys. As we head into the holiday shopping season, our list of deals includes popular tech favorites like Anker chargers, Apple AirTag trackers, LG OLED TVs, and  Lenovo mobile workstations. Or, for a fun and whimsical gift, check out Lego’s Advent calendar to unwrap a small surprise each day.

Featured deals

• Lego Star Wars 2023 Advent Calendar 75366 Christmas Holiday Countdown for $40 (was $45) at Amazon
• Samsung 32-inch Odyssey Neo G8 for $1,000 (was $1,500) at Amazon
• JBL Tour PRO+ TWS True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds for $90 (was $200) at Amazon
• Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum for $900 (was $1,000) at iRobot
• Roomba i4 Robot Vacuum for $300 (was $400) at iRobot
• Theragun PRO 4th Gen for $499 (was $599) at Therabody
• Apple AirTag 4 Pack for $89 (was $99) at Amazon
• Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 for $143 (was $280) at Amazon
• Lego Ideas Vincent Van Gogh The Starry Night 21333 for $136 (was $170) at Amazon
• Soundcore by Anker A20i True Wireless Earbuds for $30 (was $40) at Amazon
• OnePlus 11 5G | 16GB RAM+256GB for $700 (was $800) at Amazon
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1270P) for $1,375 (was $3,439) at Lenovo
• Anker Prime 67 W USB C Charger for $45 after coupon (was $60) at Amazon
• LG C2 55-inch Class 4K OLED for $1,312 (was $1,499) at LG
• LG 65-inch Class B2 OLED 4K UHD for $1,514 (was $2,300) at LG
• Jabra Elite 7 Pro for $110 (was $200) at Amazon
• Pebblebee Clip 2-pack for $55 (was $60) at Peblebee | 4-pack for $100 (was $120) at Peblebee
• Pebblebee Card & Clip Multi-pack for $80 (was $120) at Peblebee
• Chipolo CARD Spot 1-pack for $60 (was $70) at Chipolo
• Chipolo ONE Point 4-pack for $79 (was $112) at Chipolo
• DeWalt Screwdriver Bit Set, Impact Ready, FlexTorq, 40-Piece for $30 (was $40) at Amazon

Lenovo deals

• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1365U) for $1,660 (was $3,319) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1270P) for $1,624 (was $3,609) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1270P) for $1,375 (was $3,439) at Lenovo
• Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 (15-inch, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) for $495 (was $700) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Yoga 7 (16-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 7735U) for $850 (was $1,150) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch, Intel Core i5-1335U) for $870 (was $1,100) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Legion Slim 7i Gen 8 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700H and RTX 4060) for $1,450 (was $1,820) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Legion Slim 7 Gen 8 (16-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and RTX 4060) for $1,340 (was $1,680) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Gen 8 (16-inch, Intel Core i5-13500H and RTX 4050) for $1,020 (was $1,349) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 4 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1360P and RTX A500) for $1,689 (was $3,389) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad T16 (16-inch, Intel Core i5-1240P) for $1,131 (was $2,829) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad T16 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-1270P) for $1,580 (was $3,769) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700HX and RTX 4060) for $1,300 (was $1,700) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 (16-inch, Intel Core i5-13500HX and RTX 4050) for $1,090 (was $1,480) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 2 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-1360P and RTX A500) for $1,809 (was $3,629) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 2 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-1360P and RTX A500) for $1,389 (was $2,789) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 (14-inch, Intel Core i7-1365U) for $1,458 (was $2,859) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 (14-inch, Intel Core i5-1250P) for $1,372 (was $3,049) at Lenovo
• Lenovo LOQ (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13620H and RTX 4050) for $1,000 (was $1,360) at Lenovo
• Lenovo LOQ (16-inch, Intel Core i5-13500H and RTX 4050) for $840 (was $1,200) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P16v (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700H and RTX A500) for $1,669 (was $3,339) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 6 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700H and RTX A2000) for $2,189 (was $4,389) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700HX and RTX A1000) for $1,949 (was $3,899) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 (16-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850H and RX 6500M) for $1,284 (was $2,919) at Lenovo
• Lenovo LOQ (15-inch, Intel Core i5-13500H and RTX 3050) for $770 (was $1,020) at Lenovo
• Lenovo LOQ (15-inch, Intel Core i7-13700H and RTX 4050) for $1,050 (was $1,400) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i5-1340P) for $1,279 (was $1,969) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i5-1235U) for $1,105 (was $2,009) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i7-1265U) for $1,633 (was $2,969) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i7-1255U) for $1,292 (was $2,349) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i5-1245U) for $1,138 (was $2,069) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Gen 3 (13-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 5875U) for $1,242 (was $2,259) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Gen 3 (13-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 5875U) for $1,275 (was $2,319) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 3 (13-inch, Intel Core i5-1245U) for $1,209 (was $2,199) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 4 (15-inch, Intel Core i5-1235U) for $780 (was $1,499) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 4 (14-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 5825U) for $764 (was $1,469) at Lenovo
• Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i (16-inch, Intel Core i5-13500H and RTX 3050) for $990 (was $1,500) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Slim 7i (14-inch, Intel Core i5-1340P) for $875 (was $1,180) at Lenovo
• Lenovo Yoga 6 (13-inch, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) for $625 (was $860) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 (16-inch, Intel Core i5-1335U) for $797 (was $1,449) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 (14-inch, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) for $707 (was $1,219) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 (16-inch, AMD Ryzen 7 7730U) for $945 (was $1,719) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 (14-inch, Intel Core i5-1335U) for $775 (was $1,409) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-13700HX and RTX A1000) for $1,949 (was $3,899) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad T16 Gen 2 (16-inch, Intel Core i7-1365U) for $1,445 (was $2,889) at Lenovo
• Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 4 (13-inch, Intel Core i5-1335U) for $1,220 (was $2,219) at Lenovo

Lego deals

• Lego Star Wars Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder 75341 for $201 (was $240) at Amazon
• Lego Ideas Vincent Van Gogh The Starry Night 21333 for $136 (was $170) at Amazon
• Lego Creator 3-in-1 Exotic Parrot to Frog to Fish for $16 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars Spider Tank 75361 for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego City 2023 Advent Calendar 60381 for $31 (was $35) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars 2023 Advent Calendar 75366 Christmas Holiday Countdown for $40 (was $45) at Amazon
• Lego Icons Succulents 10309 for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego Creator 3-in-1 Mighty Dinosaurs 31058 for $11 (was $15) at Amazon
• Lego Icons Flower Bouquet 10280 for $45 (was $60) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro & Vantage GT3 2 Collectible Model 76910 for $36 (was $45) at Amazon
• Lego Technic Bugatti Bolide 42151 for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego City Lunar Research Base Outer Space 60350 for $103 (was $130) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions McLaren Solus GT & McLaren F1 LM 76918 for $29 (was $35) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions Pagani Utopia 76915 for $20 (was $25) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter Microfighter 75363 for $12 (was $16) at Amazon
• Lego Icons Orchid 10311 for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego Marvel Hulkbuster 76210 for $405 (was $550) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars TIE Bomber 75347 for $52 (was $65) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions 007 Aston Martin DB5 76911 for $15 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Technic Monster Jam Dragon 42149 for $16 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Technic Jeep Wrangler 4×4 Toy Car 42122 for $38 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars 501st Clone Troopers Battle Pack 75345 for $16 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Architecture Collection: The White House 21054 for $81 (was $100) at Amazon
• Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets 76389 for $120 (was $150) at Amazon
• Lego Ideas Tree House 21318 for $195 (was $250) at Amazon
• Lego Jurassic World Quetzalcoatlus Plane Ambush Set 76947 for $28 (was $45) at Amazon
• Lego Technic Monster Jam Monster Mutt Dalmatian 42150 for $16 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E 76909 for $28 (was $35) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars Captain Rex Helmet Set 75349 for $56 (was $70) at Amazon
• Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts: Dumbledore’s Office 76402 for $64 (was $80) at Amazon
• Lego Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Fighter Plane Chase 77012 for $28 (was $35) at Amazon
• Lego Architecture Skyline Collection 21044 for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars 501st Clone Troopers Battle Pack 75345 for $16 (was $20) at Amazon
• Lego Speed Champions Porsche 963 76916 for $20 (was $25) at Amazon
• Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter 75325 for $48 (was $60) at Amazon

Apple deals

• Apple MacBook Air 13.3-inch Laptop M1 for $800 (was $999) at Amazon
• Apple AirPods (3rd Generation, Lightning) Wireless Earbuds for $160 (was $170) at Amazon
• Apple AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones for $480 (was $549) at Amazon
• Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) for $559 (was $599) at Amazon
• Apple iPad Mini (6th Generation) for $469 (was $499) at Amazon
• Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th Generation) for $1,049 (was $1,099) at Amazon
• Apple AirTag 4 Pack for $89 (was $99) at Amazon
• Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad for $96 (was $129) at Amazon

Soundbars

• Samsung HW-Q700C for $398 (was $700) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 2.0 All-in-One MK2 for $130 (was $200) at Crutchfield
• Bose Smart Soundbar 900 for $699 (was $899) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass MK2 for $250 (was $350) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-B550 for $228 (was $278) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 300 for $300 (was $400) at Crutchfield
• Yamaha SR-B20A for $150 (was $200) at Crutchfield
• Yamaha SR-C30A for $230 (was $280) at Crutchfield
• Polk Audio Signa S4 for $299 (was $399) at Crutchfield
• Polk Audio React Sound Bar for $199 (was $269) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 500 for $400 (was $600) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 700 for $600 (was $900) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 1000 for $850 (was $1,200) at Crutchfield
• JBL Bar 1300X for $1,300 (was $1,700) at Crutchfield
• Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar | Plus for $1,200 (was $1,500) at Crutchfield
• Denon DHT-S517 for $299 (was $499) at Crutchfield
• LG S90QY for $797 (was $897) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q900C for $988 (was $1,398) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q800C for $688 (was $1,000) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q990C for $1,398 (was $1,900) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-S800B for $748 (was $898) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q600B for $378 (was $598) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q600C for $328 (was $600) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-S801B for $748 (was $898) at Crutchfield
• Bose Smart Soundbar 900 / Bose Bass Module 500 for $1,198 (was $1,398) at Crutchfield
• Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar for $598 (was $1,299) at Crutchfield
• Samsung HW-Q60C for $248 (was $500) at Crutchfield
• Devialet Dione Opéra for $2,799 (was $2,900) at Crutchfield
• Denon Home Sound Bar 550 & Home Subwoofer Bundle for $998 (was $1,248) at Crutchfield

PC components deals

• Intel Core i5-12400 for $172 (was $238) at Amazon
• Intel Core i5-12400F for $150 (was $206) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D for $370 (was $449) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 5 5500 for $97 (was $159) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600 for $134 (was $199) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600G for $124 (was $259) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X for $155 (was $309) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5700X for $170 (was $319) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5700G for $163 (was $359) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X for $209 (was $449) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 7700X for $310 (was $399) at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 5 7600X for $249 (was $299) at Amazon
• Predator BiFrost Intel Arc A770 for $379 (was $400) at Amazon
• Asus TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti OC for $390 (was $435) at Amazon
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 WINDFORCE OC for $550 (was $600) at Amazon
• Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC for $240 (was $300) at Amazon
• MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 for $286 (was $460) at Amazon
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 WINDFORCE OC for $300 (was $430) at Amazon
• Asus Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 V2 OC for $300 (was $410) at Amazon
• XFX Speedster SWFT309 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT CORE for $330 (was $410) at Amazon
• PowerColor Fighter AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT for $320 (was $350) at Amazon
• Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC for $240 (was $300) at Amazon
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti WINDFORCE OC for $800 (was $900) at Amazon
• Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti OC for $423 (was $460) at Amazon
• MSI Gaming Radeon RX 6750 XT for $360 (was $445) at Amazon

LG OLED TVs

• LG 77-inch Class B3 series OLED 4K UHD for $2,019 (was $3,300) at LG
• LG C2 55-inch Class 4K OLED for $1,312 (was $1,499) at LG
• LG 65-inch Class B2 OLED 4K UHD for $1,514 (was $2,300) at LG

Chargers and USB-C cables

• Anker Prime 67 W USB C Charger for $45 after coupon (was $60) at Amazon
• Anker USB C Charger, 735 Charger (Nano II 65 W) for $38 (was $56) at Amazon
• Anker GaNPrime 10K Power Bank 2-in-1 Hybrid Charger for $70 (was $100) at Amazon
• Anker USB C Charger (GaN II 100 W) for $43 (was $75) at Amazon
• Anker Prime 240 W USB C Charger for $170 (was $200) at Amazon
• UGREEN RG 65 W USB C Charger, Nexode Robot GaN Fast Charger Block 3-Port for $40 (was $50) at Amazon
• UGREEN 300 W USB C Charger Nexode GaN 5 Ports Desktop Charging Station for $200 after coupon (was $270) at Amazon
• UGREEN Nexode 100 W USB C Charger with 15 W MagSafe Charger Wireless for iPhone for $150 after coupon (was $180) at Amazon
• UGREEN Micro SD Card Reader USB C for $11 (was $16) at Amazon

Router deals

• TP-Link Deco AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh System(Deco X55) 3-pack for $200 (was $230) at Amazon
• TP-Link Deco AXE5400 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Mesh System(Deco XE75) 2-pack for $270 (was $300) at Amazon
• TP-Link Wi-Fi Extender with Ethernet Port for $30 after coupon (was $50) at Amazon
• TP-Link Wi-Fi Extender with Ethernet Port for $15 after coupon (was $35) at Amazon
• TP-Link Powerline Ethernet Adapter Starter Kit for $45 (was $50) at Amazon
• TP-Link Deco Mesh Wi-Fi System(Deco M5) 3-pack for $140 (was $190) at Amazon
• Amazon eero Pro mesh Wi-Fi router for $70 (was $160) at Amazon
• Amazon eero Pro 6 mesh Wi-Fi 6 router for $120 (was $200) at Amazon
• Amazon eero Pro 6 mesh Wi-Fi 6 system 2-pack for $180 (was $405) at Amazon

Video game deals

• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope — Standard Edition for $30 (was $60) at Amazon
• Octopath Traveler II — Nintendo Switch for $43 (was $60) at Amazon | $30 (was $60) for PlayStation 5 at Amazon
• Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening — Nintendo Switch Standard Edition (European Version) for $45 (was $60) at Amazon
• Mario Golf: Super Rush — Nintendo Switch for $48 (was $60) at Amazon
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch (International Version) for $56 (was $59) at Amazon
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — The Complete Official Guide: Collector’s Edition Hardcover for $27 (was $45) at Amazon

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Enlarge (credit: Steven Puetzer | The Image Bank)

X has confirmed a Fortune report revealing that the platform formerly known as Twitter has begun charging a $1 annual fee to new users in New Zealand and the Philippines. Unless new users in these locations cough up the dollar, they’ll be blocked from accessing basic platform features, including posting, replying, or quoting posts.

The new fee kicked in yesterday, X Support posted on X.

“Starting today, we’re testing a new program (Not-a-Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines,” X Support said. “New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post and interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.”

Enlarge / Advocates gather on April 17, 2023, in Washington, DC, to call out tax prep firms like TurboTax-maker Intuit and H&R Block, and to support the Internal Revenue Service’s exploration of free tax filing. (credit: Getty Images | Tasos Katopodis )

The Internal Revenue Service yesterday announced details for a pilot of its free filing program for the 2024 tax season. People in 13 states “may be eligible to participate in the 2024 Direct File pilot, a new service that will provide taxpayers with the choice to electronically file their federal tax return directly with the IRS for free,” the IRS said.

The pilot “will allow the IRS to identify issues and make changes prior to any potential large-scale launch in the future,” the agency said. It will assess customer support and technology needs, and help “evaluate the costs, benefits and operational challenges associated with providing a voluntary Direct File option to taxpayers.” That includes testing fraud detection and integration with state systems.

Pilot eligibility is for those with “relatively simple returns” because it “is limited by the types of income, tax credits and deductions that the product can initially support.” The IRS said it invited all 50 states, but only some are participating at first:

Enlarge (credit: Amazon)

Amazon has a plan to deploy 100,000 electric vans to its delivery fleet by 2030. At the rate it’s going, that might happen a little sooner. On Thursday, it announced that it now has 10,000 Rivian electric delivery vans in service—up from 5,000 earlier this July.

Rivian’s big order from Amazon was placed in 2019 as part of the online retailer and web service provider’s plan to become carbon neutral by the year 2040. Earlier that year Amazon was an investor in a $700 million financing round for the EV startup, which makes electric SUVs and pickup trucks in addition to the Amazon electric delivery vans.

At the time, Jeff Bezos wanted all 100,000 Rivian vans on the road by 2024, but even before the coronavirus pandemic landed in March 2020, that had been revised to 2030. The first Rivian EDVs went into service in 2021.

Enlarge / Artist’s depiction of Neanderthals after taking down a lion. (credit: Julio Lacerda/NLD)

Neanderthal hunters living 48,000 years ago in what is now Germany killed a large cave lion in what might be the earliest example of lion hunting yet known, according to a recent paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. Gabriele Russo of the University of Tubingen and co-authors based their conclusions on a close forensic analysis of a cave lion skeleton showing evidence of injury by a wooden spear. They also examined recently discovered cave lion claw bones showing evidence of having been skinned around 190,000 years ago.

Now extinct, cave lions were apex predators, larger than today’s mountain lions. They were frequently depicted in Paleolithic art, and their body parts were used as ornaments, according to the authors—part of a long-standing relationship between carnivores and hominids that shaped cultural behaviors. Although it’s known that hominins have been interacting with lions since the animals first arrived in Europe, less is known about the relationships between carnivores and hominims like Neanderthals from earlier periods.

Neanderthals were expert hunters known to kill bears and other carnivores, but evidence for them interacting with cave lions has remained scarce. A pair of lion fibula from the Middle Paleolithic found in eastern Iberia with cut marks indicates the lion was butchered, while other lion bones found in Southwestern France from the same period had cut marks indicative of skinning. This latest paper focused on a re-evaluation of a medium-sized male cave lion skeleton found at Siegsdorf, in Central Germany, in the 1980s.

Enlarge / A view of the Moon from Chandrayaan 3 before landing. (credit: ISRO)

With that milestone now possibly set to occur in 2025, Modi has set his sights higher and farther. After a high-level meeting this week to assess progress on the Gaganyaan mission, Modi’s office released a statement outlining the country’s ambitions in space over the next two decades.

Enlarge (credit: living_images | E+)

On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Google search data evidence retrieved by Denver police using a controversial keyword search warrant can be used to prosecute a teenager who has been charged with deadly arson.

Gavin Seymour, the teenager accused of arson, had moved to suppress the evidence, asking the court to consider whether keyword warrants violate constitutional rights protecting against unlawful, overly broad searches and seizures.

This was the first constitutional challenge to the legitimacy of keyword warrants—which operate in the complete opposite manner of traditional warrants and do not require police to first identify a suspect before conducting a search—but the judge writing the majority opinion, William W. Hood, declined to definitively decide whether keyword search warrants are unconstitutional.