Just like buying a new iPhone through Apple’s online store, you now select each spec of your new Mac device when purchasing through the website. As first spotted by MacWorld, Apple updated its online configuration tool for purchasing a Mac. Compared to the previous design that allowed you to pick between several prebuilt options, the new configurator lets you choose one spec after another instead.
It’s not a major difference compared to choosing between preconfigured options, but interested buyers have more customization since they can select the color, display, chip, memory, storage and even power adapter. The updated page also gives customers the option to add pre-installed apps, like Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro, to their new Mac.
The updated configuration design might hint towards the expected release of the upgraded MacBook Pros. According to MacWorld, there are rumors that Apple will offer the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with more flexibility that lets you choose how many CPU and GPU cores you want. As reported by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, the latest MacBook Pro could be queued up for a release alongside macOS 26.3, which has a release cycle between February and March.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apples-online-store-now-lets-you-build-a-new-mac-exactly-the-way-you-want-190430251.html?src=rss
Grok is once again available in Indonesia, after the country lifted its ban on the AI chatbot that was seen generating millions of sexualized deepfakes, thousands of which included children. The country’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs released a statement earlier today, which said X is allowed to resume service in Indonesia but will be subject to monitoring for any future violations.
According to the Indonesian government agency, X provided a letter that detailed several implemented measures that prevent the misuse of its Grok chatbot. Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s director general of digital space supervision, said in the statement that the agency will test the new measures on an ongoing basis and will ban Grok again if it’s found spreading illegal content or violating the country’s laws regarding children.
The issue dates back to earlier this year, when Indonesia, along with Malaysia and the Philippines, banned the AI chatbot after it was found producing sexually explicit deepfake images of women and children without their consent in response to user requests. Later that month, the Philippines lifted its ban on Grok, followed by Malaysia doing the same just a couple of days after. Similar to Indonesia, Malaysian authorities said they will continue to monitor Grok and threatened more enforcement actions if the AI chatbot repeats its past offenses. Beyond the bans, Grok is also facing investigations from California’s attorney general and the UK’s media regulator concerning the same issue.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/indonesia-is-lifting-its-ban-on-grok-but-with-some-conditions-175305634.html?src=rss
Vineyard Wind (powering Massachusetts) is one of five offshore wind projects “that the Trump administration tried to hold up in December,” reports The Hill.
This week it became the fourth of those wind projects allowed by a judge to resume construction, the article notes, while even the fifth project “is still awaiting court proceedings.”
Federal Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s stop work order against Vineyard Wind… According to its website, when complete, Vineyard Wind would be able generate enough power for 400,000 homes and businesses. The project already has 44 operational wind turbines and was working on an additional 18. The Trump pause applied to the construction work that was not yet complete.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan “have created the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots,” according to a recent announcement.
The announcement calls them “microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months and cost just a penny each.”
Barely visible to the naked eye, each robot measures about 200 by 300 by 50 micrometers, smaller than a grain of salt. Operating at the scale of many biological microorganisms, the robots could advance medicine by monitoring the health of individual cells and manufacturing by helping construct microscale devices. Powered by light, the robots carry microscopic computers and can be programmed to move in complex patterns, sense local temperatures and adjust their paths accordingly… “We’ve made autonomous robots 10,000 times smaller,” says Marc Miskin, Assistant Professor in Electrical and Systems Engineering at Penn Engineering and the papers’ senior author. “That opens up an entirely new scale for programmable robots.”
The announcement describes them as “the first truly autonomous, programmable robots at this scale” (as described in two recent academic articles). The team had to design a new propulsion system that utilized the unique locomotion physics in the microscopic realm, according to the university’s announcement. So the robots “generate an electrical field that nudges ions in the surrounding solution.”
Those ions, in turn, push on nearby water molecules, animating the water around the robot’s body. “It’s as if the robot is in a moving river,” says Miskin, “but the robot is also causing the river to move.” The robots can adjust the electrical field that causes the effect, allowing them to move in complex patterns and even travel in coordinated groups, much like a school of fish, at speeds of up to one body length per second…
To be truly autonomous, a robot needs a computer to make decisions, electronics to sense its surroundings and control its propulsion, and tiny solar panels to power everything, and all that needs to fit on a chip that is a fraction of a millimeter in size. This is where David Blaauw’s team at the University of Michigan came into action… The robots are programmed by pulses of light that also power them. Each robot has a unique address that allows the researchers to load different programs on each robot. “This opens up a host of possibilities,” adds Blaauw, “with each robot potentially performing a different role in a larger, joint task.”
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
“A box full of viruses and bacteria has completed its return trip to the International Space Station,” reports ScienceAlert, “and the changes these ‘bugs’ experienced in their travels could help us Earthlings tackle drug-resistant infections…”
Scientists aboard the space station incubated different combinations of bacteria and phages for 25 days, while the research team led by biochemist Vatsan Raman carried out the same experiments in Madison, down here on Earth. “Space fundamentally changes how phages and bacteria interact: infection is slowed, and both organisms evolve along a different trajectory than they do on Earth,” the researchers explain. In the weightlessness of space, bacteria acquired mutations in genes involved in the microbe’s stress response and nutrient management. Their surface proteins also changed. After a slow start, the phages mutated in response, so they could continue binding to their victims.
The team found that certain space-specific phage mutations were especially effective at killing Earth-bound bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections (UTIs). More than 90 percent of the bacteria responsible for UTIs are antibiotic-resistant, making phage treatments a promising alternative.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple’s AirTag is designed to run quietly in the background, helping you keep track of everyday items like keys, bags and luggage. Unlike many small trackers, an AirTag doesn’t need to be charged. Instead, it uses a standard replaceable coin cell battery that typically lasts around a year, depending on usage.
When the battery runs low, your iPhone will alert you. Replacing it is a simple process that takes just a few minutes and doesn’t require any tools. This guide explains how to tell when your AirTag battery needs replacing, which battery to use and how to swap it safely.
Replacing the battery only takes a few steps.
Hold the AirTag with the polished stainless steel side facing up.
Press down firmly on the metal battery cover and rotate it counterclockwise. Continue turning until the cover stops moving.
Lift off the cover and remove the old battery.
Insert a new CR2032 battery with the positive (+) side facing up. Once the battery is seated correctly, the AirTag will emit a brief chime, confirming that power has been restored.
Place the battery cover back onto the AirTag. Align the three small tabs on the cover with the matching slots on the AirTag body.
Press down gently and rotate the cover clockwise until it stops. The cover should sit flush with the AirTag and feel secure once locked into place.
No pairing or setup steps are required after replacing the battery. Your AirTag will automatically reconnect to your Apple ID.
Your iPhone will automatically notify you when an AirTag battery is running low. The alert appears as a notification and doesn’t interrupt tracking, but it’s a good idea to replace the battery quickly to avoid losing location updates.
If you’re unsure whether your AirTag battery needs replacing, open the Find My app, tap the Items tab and select your AirTag. If a message appears under the AirTag name stating “Low Battery”, you’ll know it needs replacing. If no message appears, it’s safe to assume the battery level is fine for now. AirTags don’t have a screen or any other battery indicator, but Apple does show a battery percentage for AirTags in the FindMy app. The low battery warning is the only signal Apple provides before replacement becomes necessary.
If you don’t hear a sound after inserting the new battery, remove it and check that it’s oriented correctly with the positive side facing up. You should also secure the back cover onto the AirTag as well, to see if the chime sounds after that.
If the battery is oriented properly and still doesn’t trigger a sound, try a different CR2032 battery. AirTag uses a CR2032 lithium 3V coin battery, a common type available at most electronics stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. Some batteries, particularly those with thick coatings, may not make consistent contact. Apple suggests looking for packaging that states “Compatible with AirTag.” Once a working battery is installed, the AirTag should resume normal operation immediately.
Most AirTag batteries last about a year under typical use. Frequent use of Precision Finding, sound playback or location updates may reduce battery life. iOS will notify you before the battery is fully depleted, so there’s no need to replace it preemptively unless you’re preparing for long-term travel or storage.
Used coin batteries should not be thrown in household trash. Many retailers and recycling centers accept lithium batteries for proper disposal. Check local recycling guidelines for battery drop-off locations. Storing used batteries in a secure container until they can be recycled helps reduce the risk of accidental contact or ingestion.
Replacing an AirTag battery is one of the simplest maintenance tasks Apple devices require. With a readily available battery and no tools involved, most users can complete the process in under a minute. As long as you pay attention to low battery notifications and follow basic safety precautions, your AirTag should continue tracking your belongings reliably with minimal effort.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/how-to-replace-your-airtag-battery-130000463.html?src=rss
This year in America, renewables and battery storage “will account for 99.2% of net new capacity — and even higher if small-scale solar were included,” reports Electrek, citing EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign:
EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through November 30, 2025), once again confirms that solar is the fastest-growing among the major sources of US electricity… [U]tility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 34.5% while that from small-scale systems rose by 11.3% during the first 11 months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The combination of utility-scale and small-scale solar increased by 28.1% and produced a bit under 9.0% (utility-scale: 6.74%; small-scale: 2.13%) of total US electrical generation for January to November, up from 7.1% a year earlier.
Wind turbines across the US produced 10.1% of US electricity in the first 11 months of 2025 — an increase of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2024. In November alone, wind-generated electricity was 2.0% greater than a year earlier… The mix of all renewables (wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal) produced 8.7% more electricity in January-November than a year earlier and accounted for 25.7% of total US electricity production, up from 24.3% 12 months earlier. Renewables’ share of electrical generation is now second to only that of natural gas, whose electrical output actually dropped by 3.7% during the first 11 months of 2025…
Since January 1 to November 30, roughly the beginning of the Trump administration, renewable energy capacity, including battery storage, small-scale solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass, ballooned by 45,198.1 MW, while all fossil fuels and nuclear power combined declined by 519.2 MW…
[In 2026] natural gas capacity will increase by only 3,960.7 MW, which will be almost completely offset by a decrease of 3,387.0 MW in coal capacity.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
This year in America, renewables and battery storage “will account for 99.2% of net new capacity — and even higher if small-scale solar were included,” reports Electrek, citing EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign:
EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through November 30, 2025), once again confirms that solar is the fastest-growing among the major sources of US electricity… [U]tility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 34.5% while that from small-scale systems rose by 11.3% during the first 11 months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The combination of utility-scale and small-scale solar increased by 28.1% and produced a bit under 9.0% (utility-scale: 6.74%; small-scale: 2.13%) of total US electrical generation for January to November, up from 7.1% a year earlier.
Wind turbines across the US produced 10.1% of US electricity in the first 11 months of 2025 — an increase of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2024. In November alone, wind-generated electricity was 2.0% greater than a year earlier… The mix of all renewables (wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal) produced 8.7% more electricity in January-November than a year earlier and accounted for 25.7% of total US electricity production, up from 24.3% 12 months earlier. Renewables’ share of electrical generation is now second to only that of natural gas, whose electrical output actually dropped by 3.7% during the first 11 months of 2025…
Since January 1 to November 30, roughly the beginning of the Trump administration, renewable energy capacity, including battery storage, small-scale solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass, ballooned by 45,198.1 MW, while all fossil fuels and nuclear power combined declined by 519.2 MW…
[In 2026] natural gas capacity will increase by only 3,960.7 MW, which will be almost completely offset by a decrease of 3,387.0 MW in coal capacity.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
When a new presidential administration comes in, it is responsible for filling around 4,000 jobs sprinkled across the federal government’s vast bureaucracy. These political appointees help carry out the president’s agenda, and, at least in theory, make government agencies responsive to elected officials.
Some of these roles—the secretary of state, for example—are well-known. Others, such as the deputy assistant secretary for textiles, consumer goods, materials, critical minerals & metals industry & analysis, are more obscure.
Historically, science agencies like NASA or the National Institutes of Health tend to have fewer political appointees than many other parts of the federal government. Sometimes, very senior roles—with authority over billions of dollars of spending, and the power to shape entire fields of research—are filled without any direct input from the White House or Congress. The arrangement reflects a long-running argument that scientists should oversee the work of funding and conducting research with very little interference from political leaders.
Exterminators keep getting calls for a reason. Wood-devouring insects, such as beetles, termites, and carpenter ants, are constantly chewing through walls or infecting trees and breaking them down. The fight against these insects usually involved noxious insecticides; but now, at least some of them can be eliminated using a certain species of fungus.
Infestations of bark beetles are the bane of spruce trees. Eurasian spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus) ingest bark high in phenolic compounds, organic molecules that often act as antioxidants and antimicrobials. They protect spruce bark from pathogenic fungi—and the beetles take advantage. Their bodies boost the antimicrobial power of these compounds by turning them into substances that are even more toxic to fungi. This would seem to make the beetles invulnerable to fungi.
There is a way to get past the beetles’ borrowed defenses, though. Led by biochemist Ruo Sun, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, found that some strains of the fungus Beauveria bassiana are capable of infecting and killing the pests.
The BBC reports:
China has executed 11 members of a notorious mafia family that ran scam centres in Myanmar along its north-eastern border, state media report.
The Ming family members were sentenced in September for various crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling dens by a court in China’s Zhejiang province. The Mings were one of many clans that ran the town of Laukkaing, transforming an impoverished backwater town into a flashy hub of casinos and red-light districts. Their scam empire came crashing down in 2023, when they were detained and handed over to China by ethnic militias that had taken control of Laukkaing during an escalation in their conflict with Myanmar’s army. With these executions Beijing is sending a message of deterrence to would-be scammers.
But the business has now moved to Myanmar’s border with Thailand, and to Cambodia and Laos, where China has much less influence.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to run online scams in Myanmar and elsewhere in South East Asia, according to estimates by the UN. Among them are thousands of Chinese people, and their victims who they swindle billions of dollars from are mainly Chinese too. Frustrated by the Myanmar military’s refusal to stop the scam business, from which it was almost certainly profiting, Beijing tacitly backed an offensive by an ethnic insurgent alliance in Shan State in late 2023. The alliance captured significant territory from the military and overran Laukkaing, a key border town.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader sinij for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Five French unions representing Ubisoft workers “have called for a ‘massive international strike’,” reports the gaming news site Aftermath.
The move follows a “series of layoffs and cancellations” at Ubisoft, the article points out, plus what the company calls a “major organizational, operational and portfolio reset” that will lead to more layoffs and cancellations announced last week. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot even sent an end-of-day message warning that management continues to “make difficult decisions, including stopping certain projects” and “potentially closing select studios,” an earlier article points out:
Slipped in between the grand vision and subtle threats was the reversal of a popular hybrid work-from-home policy that would have a direct impact on everyone working at Ubisoft. Staff would be back in the office five days a week, but with the promise of a generous number of work from home days. “The intention is not to question individual performance, but to regenerate our collective performance, which is one of the key elements in creating the best games with the required speed,” Guillemot wrote.
There was immediate confusion and frustration. One French union representing Paris Ubisoft developers called for a half-day strike. “It is out of the question to let a boss run wild and destroy our working conditions,” Solidaires Informatique wrote in a press release. “Perhaps we need to remind him that it is his employees who make the games….” [The article notes later that “There’s concern that these shifts could make it harder for Ubisoft to recruit the talent it needs to improve, or even worse, actively drive away more of the company’s existing veterans.”]
Particularly galling about the new return-to-office policy for some Paris staff was that they had only recently finished negotiating to ensure two days of work-from-home per week. “It’s only been six months since the situation was more or less ‘back to normal’ and now it’s shattered to the ground by Yves’ sole decision with zero justification, zero documents, zero internal studies proving RTO increases productivity or morale, nothing,” one developer told me. The specific details for the rollout of the return-to-office policy have yet to be communicated to everyone, could vary team by team, and might not go into effect for much of the year.
The “massive international strike” would take place from February 10-12, Aftermath notes, citing the five French unions representing Ubisoft workers (CFE-CGC, CGT, Printemps Ãcologique, Solidaires Informatique, and STJV):
“The announced transformation [at Ubisoft] claims to place games at the heart of its strategy, but without us, these games cannot exist,” the unions wrote in a joint release…. We are not fooled: rather than taking financial responsibility for layoffs, they prefer to push us out by making our working conditions unbearable. It’s outrageous….”
The Ubisoft unions hope that February’s strike will be the largest yet, and they’re coordinating with unions outside France to present a globally united front against the company.
A union representative at Ubisoft Paris even argued to Aftermath that because the CEO “needs to find 200€ million for the coming year, any person who has to quit because of this is a net benefit for him.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Remember that lawsuit questioning WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption? Thursday Bloomberg reported those allegations had been investigated by special agents with America’s Commerce Department, “according to the law enforcement records, as well as a person familiar with the matter and one of the contractors.”
Similar claims were also the subject of a 2024 whistleblower complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the records and the person, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified out of concern for potential retaliation. The investigation and whistleblower complaint haven’t been previously reported…
Last year, two people who did content moderation work for WhatsApp told an investigator with Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security that some staff at Meta have been able to see the content of WhatsApp messages, according to the agent’s report summarizing the interviews. [A spokesperson for the Bureau later told Bloomberg that investigator’s assertions were “unsubstantiated and outside the scope of his authority as an export enforcement agent.”] Those content moderators, who worked for Meta through a contract with the management and technology consulting firm Accenture Plc, also alleged that they and some of their colleagues had broad access to the substance of WhatsApp messages that were supposed to be encrypted and inaccessible, according to the report. “Both sources confirmed that they had employees within their physical work locations who had unfettered access to WhatsApp,” wrote the agent… One of the content moderators who told the investigator she had access said she also “spoke with a Facebook team employee and confirmed that they could go back aways into WhatsApp (encrypted) messages, stating that they worked cases that involved criminal actions,” according to the document…
The investigator’s report, dated July 2025, described the investigation as “ongoing,” includes a case number and dubs the inquiry “Operation Sourced Encryption…” The inquiry was active as recently as January, according to a person familiar with the matter. The inquiry’s current status and who may be the defined target are both unclear. Many investigations end without any formal accusations of wrongdoing…
WhatsApp on its website says it does, in some instances, allow information about messages to be seen by the company. If someone reports a user or group for problematic messages, “WhatsApp receives up to five of the last messages they’ve sent to you” and “the user or group won’t be notified,” the company says. In those cases, WhatsApp says it receives the “group or user ID, information on when the message was sent, and the type of message sent (image, video, text, etc.).” Former contractors outlined much broader access. Larkin Fordyce was an Accenture contractor who the report says an agent interviewed about content moderation work for Meta. Fordyce told the investigator he spent years doing this work out of an Austin, Texas office starting as early as the end of 2018. He said moderators eventually were granted their own access to WhatsApp, but even before that they could request access to communications and “the Facebook team was able to ‘pull whatever they wanted and then send it,'” the report states…
The agent also gathered records that were filed in the whistleblower complaint to the SEC, according to his report, which doesn’t describe the materials… The status of the whistleblower complaint is unclear.
Some key points from the article:
“The investigative report seen by Bloomberg doesn’t include a technical explanation of the contractors’ claims.”
“A spokesperson for Meta, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, said the contractors’ claims are impossible.” One contractor “said that there was little vetting” of foreign nationals hired to do content moderation for Meta, saying this granted them “full access to the same portal to review” content moderation cases
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Associated Press:
American workers adopted artificial intelligence into their work lives at a remarkable pace over the past few years, according to a new poll. Some 12% of employed adults say they use AI daily in their job, according to a Gallup Workforce survey conducted this fall of more than 22,000 U.S. workers.
The survey found roughly one-quarter say they use AI at least frequently, which is defined as at least a few times a week, and nearly half say they use it at least a few times a year. That compares with 21% who were using AI at least occasionally in 2023, when Gallup began asking the question, and points to the impact of the widespread commercial boom that ChatGPT sparked for generative AI tools that can write emails and computer code, summarize long documents, create images or help answer questions…
While frequent AI use is on the rise with many employees, AI adoption remains higher among those working in technology-related fields. About 6 in 10 technology workers say they use AI frequently, and about 3 in 10 do so daily. The share of Americans working in the technology sector who say they use AI daily or regularly has grown significantly since 2023, but there are indications that AI adoption could be starting to plateau after an explosive increase between 2024 and 2025…
A separate Gallup Workforce survey from 2025 found that even as AI use is increasing, few employees said it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that new technology, automation, robots or AI will eliminate their job within the next five years. Half said it was “not at all likely,” but that has decreased from about 6 in 10 in 2023.
A bar chart lists the sectors most likely to be using AI at their jobs:
Technology (77%)
Finance (64%)
College/University (63%)
Professional Services (62%)
K-12 Education (56%)
Community/Social Services (43%)
Government/Public Policy (42%)
Manufacturing (41%)
Health Care (41%)
Retail (33%)
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
“A future with flying cars is no longer science fiction,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
“All you need to order your own is about $200,000 and some hope and patience.”
The Palo Alto-based company Pivotal has been developing the technology since 2009 and is nearly ready to bring it to market… [Company founder Marcus] Leng engineered an ultralight, electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft known as an eVTOL. Other VTOL aircraft, such as helicopters, had existed for decades, but Leng’s invention was fixed-wing and didn’t rely on gas. The Canadian engineer dubbed his creation BlackFly and spent years working on it in secret. The company moved to the Bay Area in 2014 and by 2018 had developed a second version of BlackFly that laid the groundwork for Helix, the aircraft Pivotal now offers for sale…
Those who are curious — and wealthy — can reserve a Helix today with a $50,000 deposit. The aircraft starts at $190,000 with the option of purchasing a transport trailer for $21,000 and a charger for $1,100. A customer who makes their reservation today could receive their aircraft in nine to 12 months, [Pivotal Chief Executive Ken] Karklin said. It takes less than two weeks to learn how to fly it. In order to complete Pivotal’s flight certification training, a customer has to pass the FAA knowledge test and complete ground school. Training, which takes place at the company’s Palo Alto headquarters and at the Monterey Bay Academy Airport, teaches customers how to control and maintain the aircraft, as well as how to transport and assemble it…
It is uncertain how fast the company and others like it can ramp up production and how communities will react. Not everyone is on board. Darlene Yaplee, president of the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance, said there are concerns about having different types of aircraft in limited airspace. Pivotal has around six early-access customers who already own a version of the BlackFly and are flying it for fun… Helix will have an electric range of about 30 minutes and a cruise speed of 62 mph, the company said. It takes 75 minutes to charge it using a 240 volt charger. The noise produced by the aircraft during takeoff and landing is equivalent to a couple of leaf blowers, Karklin said. When flying it is overhead, someone on the ground might not be able to hear it.
Karklin said the simplicity of the aircraft comes with lower cost, lower weight and higher safety. The aircraft, which has only 18 moving parts, is full of redundancy to prevent system failures.
In short, the article describes it as “a single-person aircraft for recreational use and short-haul travel that also has the potential to support emergency response and military operations.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
About a decade ago, many media outlets—including WIRED—zeroed in on a weird trend at the intersection of mental health, drug science, and Silicon Valley biohacking: microdosing, or the practice of taking a small amount of a psychedelic drug seeking not full-blown hallucinatory revels but gentler, more stable effects. Typically using psilocybin mushrooms or LSD, the archetypal microdoser sought less melting walls and open-eye kaleidoscopic visuals than boosts in mood and energy, like a gentle spring breeze blowing through the mind.
Anecdotal reports pitched microdosing as a kind of psychedelic Swiss Army knife, providing everything from increased focus to a spiked libido and (perhaps most promisingly) lowered reported levels of depression. It was a miracle for many. Others remained wary. Could 5 percent of a dose of acid really do all that? A new, wide-ranging study by an Australian biopharma company suggests that microdosing’s benefits may indeed be drastically overstated—at least when it comes to addressing symptoms of clinical depression.
A Phase 2B trial of 89 adult patients conducted by Melbourne-based MindBio Therapeutics, investigating the effects of microdosing LSD in the treatment of major depressive disorder, found that the psychedelic was actually outperformed by a placebo. Across an eight-week period, symptoms were gauged using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), a widely recognized tool for the clinical evaluation of depression.
“Apple has gone for a choose-your-own-adventure when shopping for a new Mac,” writes long-time Slashdot reader esarjeant.
Macworld explains:
Apple has shifted from selling pre-configured Mac models to a fully customizable build-to-order system on its website, allowing customers to select display size, chip, memory, and storage options… This change emphasizes building a machine within budget rather than choosing from set configurations, potentially preparing for future CPU/GPU core selection with M5 chips. Third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are expected to continue offering standard configurations for customers preferring traditional purchasing methods…
Apple is rumored to offer the ability to customize CPU and GPU cores with the upcoming launch of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models, so this new system could pave the way for more build-to-order options. It could also be a way to âoehideâ smaller price increases as memory and other component costs rise throughout 2026.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang told reporters that the company will “invest a great deal of money” in OpenAI’s latest funding round, according to Bloomberg, after The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that the two companies were rethinking a previous $100 billion deal that hasn’t “progressed beyond the early stages” of negotiations. Speaking to reporters in Taipei this weekend, Huang reportedly said it could be “the largest investment we’ve ever made.”
NVIDIA and OpenAI jointly announced in September that NVIDIA would be investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI to build 10 gigawatts of AI data centers. The companies said then that they were targeting the second half of 2026 for the first phase of the project to go online. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported that Huang has highlighted privately that the agreement was nonbinding and has criticized OpenAI’s business approach as lacking discipline.
According to Bloomberg, however, Huang called the report’s claims “nonsense,” and told reporters on Saturday, “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” But, Bloomberg reports, he said NVIDIA’s investment in this funding round wouldn’t come near $100 billion.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-is-still-planning-to-make-a-huge-investment-in-openai-ceo-says-205521528.html?src=rss
There may be plenty of gaming handhelds out there, but there aren’t many horizontal options that let you play childhood favorites in the original 4:3 aspect ratio. To address that gap, Ayaneo launched a premium option with the Pocket S Mini. As a “true 4:3 retro handheld,” the Pocket S Mini won’t have those pesky vertical black bars whenever you’re emulating video games from the CRT television era.
Handhelds like the Anbernic RG405M and even Ayaneo’s own Pocket Air Mini already offer a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the Pocket S Mini presents a more high-end build with a full metal frame and a glass front panel. The 4.2-inch LCD screen has a resolution of 1,280 x 960 and is flanked by Hall effect joysticks with RGB lighting, Hall effect triggers and “crystal-textured” buttons. Inside, the Pocket S Mini runs on a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chip and is powered by a 6,000mAh battery.
Unlike most of Ayaneo’s other devices, the Pocket S Mini isn’t being done through a crowdfunding campaign. It’s already available on Ayaneo’s website with a starting early bird price of $319 for either the Obsidian Black or Ice Soul White options with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage. As usual, the Retro Power colorway will only be available with the highest specs of 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, starting at $479. We’re not sure when Ayaneo will end early bird pricing, but the prices will eventually jump to between $399 and $559 for retail pricing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ayaneos-pocket-s-mini-has-the-perfect-aspect-ratio-for-revisiting-classic-console-games-203926701.html?src=rss