Volcanologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been monitoring volcanic unrest since April of last year.

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The 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip still holds up as one of the best lightweight laptops Apple has ever made, and right now, you can get a Grade A refurbished model for $514.99 on StackSocial. That means you’re getting a machine that looks nearly new, with little to no visible wear. It’s the Space Gray model with a 13.3-inch Retina display, which delivers crisp text and vibrant colors, whether you’re working, streaming, or scrolling through Reddit. With 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it’s built for everyday tasks like web browsing, video calls, and document editing, but if you need a ton of storage for big files or pro-level video editing, 128GB might feel cramped pretty fast.

What makes this MacBook Air stand out is Apple’s M1 chip, which still competes with newer laptops in speed and efficiency. This chip means silent, fan-less performance, so you won’t hear it struggling under pressure even when juggling multiple apps. Battery life is also a win—even in real-world use, it easily lasts a full workday (29 hours per charge, according to this PCMag review). The keyboard is also a huge improvement over older models, with a more comfortable typing experience. Plus, Touch ID lets you log in instantly and makes online shopping way too easy. The relative downside is that it has only two USB-C ports, so you’ll probably need a dongle for accessories like an external drive or SD card.

This model was PCMag’s Best Apple Laptop of 2020 and won their Editor’s Choice award for good reason—it’s a fast, sleek, and reliable machine for casual users, students, and remote workers. And, at over $500 off the original price, this StackSocial deal makes it more accessible. Keep in mind that it ships only within the contiguous U.S., and since it’s a refurbished unit, stock might not last long.

Mozilla has warned that the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed remedies in its antitrust case against Google would harm independent browsers and reduce competition in the browser market. The DOJ and several state attorneys general last week filed revised proposed remedies in the U.S. v. Google search case that would prohibit all search payments to browser developers, a move Mozilla says would disproportionately impact smaller players.

“These proposed remedies prohibiting search payments to small and independent browsers miss the bigger picture — and the people who will suffer most are everyday internet users,” said Mark Surman, President of Mozilla. Unlike Apple and Microsoft, which generate revenue from hardware and operating systems, Mozilla relies primarily on search revenue to fund browser development. Mozilla argues that cutting these payments would not solve search dominance but would instead strengthen the position of tech giants.

Mozilla also warned that the proposal threatens its ability to maintain Gecko, one of only three major browser engines alongside Google’s Chromium and Apple’s WebKit. “If we lose our ability to maintain Gecko, it’s game over for an open, independent web,” Surman said, noting that even Microsoft abandoned its browser engine in 2019. “If Mozilla is unable to sustain our browser engine, it would severely impact browser engine competition and mean the death of the open web as we know it — essentially, creating a web where dominant players like Google and Apple, have even more control, not less.”

Firefox serves 27 million monthly active users in the U.S. and nearly 205 million globally.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

First announced back in 2023, NVIDIA is finally releasing a playable demo for Half-Life 2 RTX. If you own the original game on Steam (and if you don’t, what’s your excuse?), you can download the preview on March 18. The showcase will allow players to see how Orbifold Studios has reimagined Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt with ray tracing. NVIDIA says the full release will arrive “at a later date.”

Ahead of the demo’s release, NVIDIA is also releasing RTX Remix, the modding toolkit Orbifold used to remaster HL2, to the public. The suite is available to download today, and includes support for many of the company’s latest technologies, including multi-frame generation via DLSS 4. Additionally, NVIDIA says RTX Remix features an “easily mastered” interface that allows modders to add fully ray-traced lighting and AI-enhanced textures to older games without fuss. For more dedicated teams, RTX Remix makes it possible to rebuild every asset in a game.

Beside the chance to see Half-Life 2 in a whole new light, there’s another good reason to revisit the game next week. Viktor Antonov, Half-Life 2’s visionary art director, passed away in February at the age of 52. All video games are a collaborative effort, but if there’s one person who helped make Half-Life 2 so memorable, it’s Antonov. He designed most of City 17 and the Combine technology that gives the game its unique visual identity.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/a-demo-of-half-life-2-rtx-arrives-next-week-on-steam-171908066.html?src=rss

An Australian man in his forties has become the first person in the world to leave hospital with an artificial heart made of titanium. From a report: The device is used as a stopgap for people with heart failure who are waiting for a donor heart, and previous recipients of this type of artificial heart had remained in US hospitals while it was in place.

The man lived with the device for more than three months until he underwent surgery to receive a donated human heart. The man is recovering well, according to a statement from St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, where the operations were conducted. The Australian is the sixth person globally to receive the device, known as BiVACOR, but the first to live with it for more than a month.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A year-long subscription to the meditation app Headspace is on sale right now for just $42. The typical price is $70, so this represents a savings of 40 percent. It also breaks down to $3.50 per month. The sale is part of the app’s acknowledgement of Sleep Awareness Week, which is a thing that’s going on right now.

A subscription to Headspace gets you access to the app’s entire library of meditations, sleep sounds, yoga routines and fitness content. It also delivers curated meditations and inspirational videos each day.

Headspace topped our list of the best meditation apps, and with good reason. We loved how the meditation courses are organized, as each one builds on top of skills learned in the previous session. Each course also offers a variety of instructors, just in case you grow fond of a particular person.

The integrated search engine makes it easy to find what you’re looking for and members even get access to tangential stuff like wellness podcasts. The app’s colors are calming and neutral, with an aesthetically pleasing design running throughout. It’s just a simple and well-made meditation app that’s perfect for both experts and newcomers.

There’s a free trial of 14 days, but the promotion ends on March 18. That means you really only have a few days to check things out and make a decision. If you do end up purchasing the year, remember that the price shoots up to $70 when it runs out. Make sure to cancel ahead of time, unless you’re fine with paying full price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-one-year-of-headspace-for-40-percent-off-170017814.html?src=rss

The dystopian anthology series returns to Netflix next month with six episodes and a fantastic cast.

Google is trying to add Gemini AI to all its products. We’ve even seen the Gemini button in Gmail (which you can disable if you wish). Now, the company is starting to get more specific with that email integration, using AI to automatically add events to your Google calendar if an email provides enough details for it.

The feature is already rolling out, so Gemini Advanced subscribers and Google Workspace for Business users can expect to start seeing the new Add to Calendar button, powered by Gemini, when relevant. It’ll be right next to the “Summarize this email” button, above the email’s body.

As an example, let’s say you have an email discussing an upcoming meeting with your boss. Press the “Add to Calendar” button, and Google will automatically scan and parse the relevant details and create a Google Calendar event for you. Thankfully, Google isn’t making this a completely autonomous process—the event will show up in a sidebar once generated, so you’ll be able to check it for mistakes before you add it to your calendar (given how LLMs sometimes tend to hallucinate, this is a good idea).

You can use the Edit button to make any changes to the proposed event, or to add more information. One thing Gemini can’t do yet is invite others to the meeting, so for that, you’ll need a trip to the Calendar app. The feature is also only available in English for now.

According to Google, the Add to Calendar button might take up to two weeks to complete global rollout. The feature is only available in English language, and it only works on the web for now. And while it’s limited to paying subscribers, it’s available for all Business plan users, including the cheaper Business Starter plan. If you’re not sure whether paying for Gemini Advanced each month makes sense for you, check out our explainer.

A French university says it’s providing safe harbor to American scientists from Yale, Stanford, NASA, and the NIH.

A steady stream (sorry) of expansions has helped keep the terrific PowerWash Simulator in the zeitgeist over the last couple of years, but developer FuturLab has been beavering away on a sequel as well. You won’t have to wait too long for it either, as PowerWash Simulator 2 is slated to debut later this year.

The follow-up has a fresh campaign mode that picks up from where the first game left off, new locations to make scum-free, enhanced soap(!) and the option to customize your home base, which your friends can visit. Also new is the ability to share campaign progress when you play online with your buds. Best of all, there will be a two-player split-screen mode this time around. It’s always great to have more couch co-op games to play.

The supremely relaxing and satisfying PowerWash Simulator was a surprise hit. FuturLab says more than 17 million players have adjusted their nozzles to spray away virtual grime in a wide variety of locations.

PowerWash Simulator 2 is set to hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in late 2025 (sidenote: have you cleaned your system lately?). More details will be revealed next month. 

Eurogamer reports that the game is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 as well, but no Nintendo platforms were mentioned in FuturLab’s press release. The studio told Engadget that “Whilst we would like to release on Switch 2, there are no current firm plans. We have no timeframe or news there.” That said, Nintendo plans to reveal much more about its new console on April 2, so perhaps we’ll hear about a Switch 2 edition of PowerWash Simulator 2 then.

Meanwhile, there are no plans for a VR version this time, FuturLab told Eurogamer. The studio ended support for PowerWash Simulator VR in January, with CEO Kirsty Rigden saying that version was running at a loss. FuturLab reassigned members of its VR team to other roles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/powerwash-simulator-2-will-arrive-later-this-year-164534571.html?src=rss

Dear Apple,

As you know, your Apple Watch SE is not new. The second generation came out in September 2022 alongside the Series 8 and the first iteration of the Ultra. You’ve given the iPhone, all models of the iPad, AirPods, MacBooks and both the flagship and premium smartwatches updates since then — but not the budget smartwatch. Last month, my editors asked me to see how the Watch SE stacks up in 2025 and I was happy to oblige. I love getting my hands on novel tech, analyzing, evaluating and experiencing a device (then giving it back when I’m done so I don’t have to accumulate more stuff). But this review left me cold. The Apple Watch SE feels bland and decidedly lesser-than in 2025.

It’s a fairly safe bet we’ll see a new model of the SE soon. There are, of course, rumors. Plus, the launch of the iPhone 16e suggests you are still interested in churning out more affordable versions of your devices. There’s about a $150 price difference between the SE and the base Apple Watch Series 10. The latter goes for $399 at full price and as low as $329 on sale. The SE costs $249 and has gone for as little as $149. While I don’t expect a budget watch to have everything the flagship does, there are a few features that feel non-negotiable in 2025 as well as some reasonable compromises that most budget-conscious buyers will probably be willing to accept. As a daily smartwatch wearer and consumer gadget reviewer, I’m offering you my completely free advice on what I’d like to see on the next Apple Watch SE.

Give us a bigger (not better) display

I usually wear an Apple Watch Series 9 but before that, I sported a hand-me-down Apple Watch Series 4 with a scratched screen. Apart from the scuff, the screen on the 40mm Apple Watch SE I reviewed feels identical to the one on that wearable from 2018. In fact, both have the same size display areas, which is cramped and dinky compared to the generous real estate on the 42mm Series 10. Of course, the newest Apple Watch received a 2mm size bump, so a more direct comparison would be to the 40mm 9th-generation watch, which has 150 sq mm more room, thanks to thinner bezels. Considering the growing amount of information our watches handle, I’d like a bigger panel to view it on.

The brightness and overall clarity of the SE’s OLED Retina display is perfectly adequate. There’s no need for the higher-end LTPO 3 technology the latest watches have. And the SE’s 1000 nits of brightness is plenty, too. Even in bright sunlight, the screen is legible. True, it can’t get down to a single nit of brightness like the newer watches can and, while that’s distracting in a dark room, using sleep focus at bedtime turns the screen off completely.

When I upgraded to the Series 9, the feature I most looked forward to was the always-on display (AOD). That’s because my Series 4 required me to lift my wrist repeatedly before finally lighting up. It was irritating to simply check the time. But when I reviewed the Galaxy Watch 7, I turned off the AOD for much of the testing and didn’t miss it a bit. Turns out, if the watch reliably and quickly snaps to attention when I flick my wrist, AOD isn’t as crucial. So if losing that feature can keep the cost down, that’d be an acceptable tradeoff. Currently, checking the time on the SE is slightly, but not significantly better than my experience with my older watch. Which could be solved by a more advanced processor.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Let’s have a faster (not the fastest) chip

I realize when I say the processing power of the Apple Watch SE feels sluggish, I’m dishonoring my 14-year-old self whose pipe dream was owning a Casio calculator watch. But still, compared to my experience with current models, the SE lags. Opening apps, controlling music playback, starting workouts and talking with Siri is just slower than it should be. A budget watch doesn’t need to pack the zenith of Apple’s system-in-package (SiP), but stepping up to 2023’s S9 chip would make the watch feel satisfyingly zippy.

A processor bump could also enable double tap, which debuted with the Series 9. But that’s not critical — I could take or leave the gesture control feature. It doesn’t feel as accurate or as integrated with the OS as, say, Samsung’s version on the Galaxy Watch. Though I have to admit, with my Series 9, it does feel a little magical when I can double pinch to start a suggested walking workout — especially when I’m grappling with the leash of a crazy puppy.

The S9 chip also enables on-board processing of Siri requests, which means those don’t have to borrow a connected phone’s internet. If I’m on a bike ride and want to log it as such, I can just ask Siri, even if I left my phone at home. (True, the cellular-enabled SE can complete those requests without a phone, but the price bump and monthly service fee for that configuration starts to muddy the idea of a budget watch.) Siri requests are also completed much faster when they’re handled on the watch itself. When I want Siri to quickly set a two minute timer for steeping green tea, the process with the SE just takes too long.

For Pete’s sake, make it charge faster

My dad’s name is Pete. And if he had an Apple Watch SE (instead of his Series 7), I know he’d want it to recharge in a reasonable amount of time. Overall, the battery performance on the SE is surprisingly good. I can get through a full day that includes tracking a run, a Fitness+ workout, setting timers, obsessively checking the weather, logging meds and taking a couple of dog walks — all with enough juice left to track my sleep. By the time I wake up, it’s usually time to stick the watch on the charger. That’s a similar experience to my Apple Watch Series 9. But instead of getting the battery refilled while I shower and get ready for the day, the SE takes over two hours to go from around ten percent to a hundred. That’s too long to wait.

Keep your titanium and sapphire crystal

Budget models always get handed the less-expensive materials and that’s OK. The aluminum alloy Apple uses in its non-premium watches strikes a good balance between durability and lightness. The Ion-X glass on the front isn’t as robust as sapphire glass, but it’s less expensive. I’m not trying to speak for all budget-conscious folk, but I and every other frugal person I know tends to swaddle all expensive tech in screen protectors, cases and all manner of other protective measures the moment it leaves the box. So if slightly less robust materials can shave dollars off the asking price, by all means, Apple, do so.

We’ve seen rumors that your next SE might be housed in a plastic case with brighter colors on the watch bands, possibly in an effort to appeal to kids. I’d need to see what type of plastic you feel is strong enough to stand up to the chaos of children, but if it can last a few years without failing while also keeping the price down, I’m open to the idea.

It’s OK if my watch isn’t a doctor’s office

Fitness tracking is high on my list of non-negotiable features. And accuracy for that requires a suite of sensors — a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, altimeter and an optical heart rate readeran optical heart sensor, gyroscope and accelerometer, GPS connection and an altimeter. The SE has all of those and the data collected from my tracked workouts and runs were on par with what my newer watch would gather.

The SE lacks an electrical heart rate sensor so it can’t take an ECG reading. There’s also no temperature sensor, which the Series 10 uses to help predict ovulation and menstrual cycles. If and when your company ever works out the patent dispute over its blood oxygen sensor, I imagine a new Apple Watch SE won’t get that capability either.

That’s fine. I’ve used the ECG reading exactly once — to test it out for comparison on another smartwatch review. I was hyper-obsessed with my ovulation cycle for a total of six months, approximately eight years before my now seven-year-old kid was born. While it’s neat that our watches can compile so much data, I think it’s more important to cover the basics: tell me when I’m really hauling on a run and when my heart rate gets up to 170 on a HIIT workout. We can get those more specialized, seldom-used health assessments elsewhere.

The SE doesn’t have a depth gauge or a water temperature sensor either. That’s also fine. I don’t think anyone in the market for a budget wearable will mind terribly that it isn’t designed to go scuba diving with them.

Newer flagship Apple Watches have an ultra wideband (UWB) chip inside to help with more precise finding of a misplaced iPhone and supports additional interactions with a nearby HomePod. I use my watch to find my phone up to three times per day. The UWB enables a more precise way to locate devices, and that interface pops up on my Series 9 each time I ping my phone, offering a cute little game of hot and cold, pointing an arrow in the direction of my missing handset. But I mostly ignore the directions and just listen for the da-ta-da-ta-ding-da-ding of the phone’s ringer. Which is to say, I didn’t miss the lack of UWB in the least on the SE.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Wrap-up

When the Apple Watch SE came out in 2022, Engadget’s Cherlynn Low called it the best smartwatch $250 can buy. That was certainly the case at the time. But two and a half years later, it’s reasonable to expect more from your budget timepiece. I remember the decade or so post-college when $250 represented more than my monthly food allotment. For many, even an “affordable” Apple purchase is still a significant one.

For the same money, people can get a lot more if they step outside of your walled ecosystem. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch FE is just $200. Not only does it have the same sensors as the company’s flagship wearable, it can also perform an ECG. For $200, we could also get a Fitbit Versa 4 instead. True, it doesn’t pack nearly as many features as the Pixel Watch 3, but it covers the basics well, tracking activity, delivering notifications and going for up to six days on a charge. It’ll even pair with an iPhone. And then there’s the Garmin Forerunner 165. Right now it’s our editors’ favorite running watch and it can be had for $250. Making a quality $250 smartwatch isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Apple, you can save your premium materials, super specialized sensors and nice-to-have extras like UWB connections for your flagship and premium models. That way, people who are willing to pay more will still feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. Just focus on the features that make a difference to everyday users, and forget those inessential perks. There’s still room for you to make a reasonably priced watch that doesn’t feel like a second-class accessory.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/revisiting-the-apple-watch-se-in-2025-left-me-with-a-long-list-of-update-requests-163046835.html?src=rss

The long awaited film, co-starring Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, opens August 29.

If you read enough tech news on the internet, you’re probably used to seeing the same advice over and over again: Update your software to the latest version as soon as possible. This advice is repeated often, because, for the most part, it’s sound—updates not only give you access to the latest features, but also the most up to date stability and security patches. If you want to protect your software, hardware, and the data contained therein, update!

Web browsers are no exception. It’s particularly important to keep the tool you use to access the internet fully updated if you want to keep yourself safe as you surf the web. While you should update all web browsers whenever possible, it’s especially pertinent for Firefox users to update right now. If you don’t, your browser might stop working.

A Firefox root certificate is expiring

Mozilla, the company that makes Firefox, issued a warning last year imploring users to update their browsers as soon as possible. Unlike most articles I write about browser updates, this particular update doesn’t include a security patch designed to protect against a vulnerability or active exploit. Instead, this version of Firefox updates a “root certificate,” which is necessary for the browser to continue operating as expected.

A root certificate is essentially the confirmation that Mozilla approved and certified an add-on. (That’s what Firefox calls browser extensions.) Whenever you install something like, say, uBlock Origin, Mozilla first has to ensure that add-on is authentic, as not doing so invites instability and security risks.

This root certificate is set to expire on Friday, March 14. Without this root certificate, Mozilla cannot confirm that your add-ons are actually legit, and, as such, will disable them. But it won’t just be your add-ons. The lack of a root certificate could also stop DRM-protected content from playing. That includes streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, since their content is, of course, digital locked up via DRM. In addition, Mozilla says systems that use content verification could stop working as well.

Firefox itself won’t completely cease to function after this root certificate expires. You can keep using the outdated version of the browser, if you insist. However, your add-ons and streaming services will likely stop working, among other functions. Perhaps even more critically, you’re setting yourself up for security issues: Without this certificate, malicious add-ons and websites could bypass Mozilla’s security features and wreak havoc on your machine, while Mozilla’s feature that gives you a heads up when your passwords are breached may not work.

There’s really no reason not to update Firefox to update the root certificate.

How to update Firefox

Luckily, this isn’t a case where you need to make any significant lifestyle changes to adapt. In fact, this really is as simple as updating your browser. As long as you’re running Firefox version 128 or newer, you’re set. (For context, the Firefox app on my Mac, which I rarely use, was running version 125, when the latest as of this piece is 136.) If you’re on a desktop, like Mac, Windows, or Linux, click Menu > Help > About Firefox. Firefox will look for the latest version, and, if found, will invite you to restart your browser to install it.

While this issue doesn’t affect iOS, it does affect Android, so make sure to update your mobile browser as well. To do so, open the app’s Play Store page and choose Update if one is available.

Google is continuing its quest to get more people to use Gemini, and it’s doing that by giving away even more AI computing. Today, Google is releasing a raft of improvements for the Gemini 2.0 models, and as part of that upgrade, some of the AI’s most advanced features are now available to free users. You’ll be able to use the improved Deep Research to get in-depth information on a topic, and Google’s newest reasoning model can peruse your search history to improve its understanding of you as a person. What could go wrong?

Like most big AI players, Google has a number of different models available. Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental is the company’s most capable multistep reasoning model, which can consider complex topics and gives you a window into its “thought” process. Google is adding a lot to this model in its latest round of updates, enabling a much larger 1-million-token context window, file uploads, and faster output. It also supports more Google apps with connections to Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and Photos.

With the aim of making Gemini more personal to you, Google is also plugging Flash Thinking Experimental into a new source of data: your search history. Google stresses that you have to opt in to this feature, and it can be disabled at any time. Gemini will even display a banner to remind you it’s connected to your search history so you don’t forget. If you grant access, the AI can allegedly understand you better and offer more relevant recommendations. It feels a bit strange to turn Gemini loose on such personal data, but Google already knows what you look up on the Internet. You’re not giving up much more if you let the robot have a peek. This is apparently just the start of Google’s efforts to personalize the AI.

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