An old school ransomware attack has a new twist: threatening to feed data to AI companies so it’ll be added to LLM datasets. 404 Media reports: Artists&Clients is a website that connects independent artists with interested clients. Around August 30, a message appeared on Artists&Clients attributed to the ransomware group LunaLock. “We have breached the website Artists&Clients to steal and encrypt all its data,” the message on the site said, according to screenshots taken before the site went down on Tuesday. “If you are a user of this website, you are urged to contact the owners and insist that they pay our ransom. If this ransom is not paid, we will release all data publicly on this Tor site, including source code and personal data of users. Additionally, we will submit all artwork to AI companies to be added to training datasets.”

LunaLock promised to delete the stolen data and allow users to decrypt their files if the site’s owner paid a $50,000 ransom. “Payment is accepted in either Bitcoin or Monero,” the notice put on the site by the hackers said. The ransom note included a countdown timer that gave the site’s owners several days to cough up the cash. “If you do not pay, all files will be leaked, including personal user data. This may cause you to be subject to fines and penalties under the GDPR and other laws.”

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If you’re someone who reheats the same cup of coffee two or three times before finally finishing it, the Ember Mug 2 might be your kind of upgrade. It’s a 10oz smart mug that keeps your drink at your preferred temperature (anywhere from 120 to 145 degrees) for up to 90 minutes on battery or all day if you leave it on its charging coaster. This Open Box unit is on sale for $69.99 right now on StackSocial (down from $129.95), and while it isn’t sealed and pristine, it’s been verified to be in new condition and includes a full 1-year warranty. It ships free to the contiguous U.S., and everything you need is in the box—the mug, charging coaster, and cable. Just pour your drink, let it do its thing (it lets you know via a tiny LED light when your drink has hit your perfect temperature), and forget about lukewarm coffee.

You can use the Ember Mug 2 straight out of the box with its default 135-degree setting, but the real fun starts when you pair it with the Ember app (available on iOS and Android). You can dial in a specific temperature, assign custom presets for different drinks (tea, black coffee, green tea, etc.), and even change the color of the LED to match your vibe. It also shuts off on its own when it’s empty or hasn’t been touched in a while, which is great for people who forget everything, including whether they left their mug on the charger.

You’ll need to hand-wash it (it’s not dishwasher safe), but it’s water-resistant enough (IPX7) to rinse or even submerge if you get carried away with the sponge. It also charges via USB-C, so you’re not stuck hunting for a proprietary charger if you misplace the cable. If gifting season is coming up or if you’re just tired of babysitting your drink with a microwave, this is one of those gadgets that actually earns its place on the counter.

Presumably having burnt all his bridges with boat-owning friends, this is a video of Youtuber BCmtb water skiing down a drainage ditch into the ocean (previously: kayakers going down one). In his own words, which thankfully were not last ones, “Let’s hope I can make these corners.” Our collective hope worked though, because he does make those corners. He also makes a mess of the bottom of those skis, which, if he’s smart but a dirtbag friend, were borrowed. No wonder nobody wants to tow him.

An anonymous reader shares a report: It’s broadly understood that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than their counterparts that burn only gasoline. And yes — that includes the impact of manufacturing batteries and generating power to charge them. But even then, such generalizations gloss over specifics, like which EVs are especially eco-friendly, not to mention where. The efficiency of an electric car varies greatly depending on ambient temperature, which is less compromising for gas-burning vehicles.

We now have the data and math to answer these questions, courtesy of the University of Michigan. Last week, researchers there released a study along with a calculator that allows users to compare the lifetime difference in greenhouse gas emissions of various vehicle types and powertrains from “cradle to grave,” as they say. That includes vehicle production and disposal, as well as use-phase emissions from “driving and upstream fuel production and/or electricity generation,” per the university itself.

What’s more, these calculations can be skewed by where you live. So, if I punch in my location of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, I can see that my generic, pure-ICE “compact sedan” emits 309 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e) per mile. A compact hybrid would emit 20% less; a plug-in hybrid, 44% less; and an EV with a 200-mile range, a whopping 63% less. And, if I moved to Phoenix, the gains would be even larger by switching to pure electric, to the tune of a 79% reduced carbon impact.

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HVAC units, trash cans, outdoor pipes: These may all be necessary, but they’re not always the most attractive things to look at, and curb appeal is incredibly important for both resale value and first impressions. If you don’t want that ugly propane tank, sprinkler valve, or row of trash cans to be the first thing people notice about your house, don’t worry—there are some easy ways to hide all that stuff.

Artificial stumps & rocks

For smaller items that interrupt your landscaping or garden—like pool pumps, sprinkler pipes, or electrical boxes—you can use an inexpensive fake rock like this to cover them up. If you match the color and texture of your fake rock with what’s already visible, it will blend in seamlessly. You can also buy hollow fake stumps like this if that’s a better match for your landscaping or if you need to hide something taller (or you can buy a taller fake stone, like this 34-inch high model).

Privacy screens

Hiding larger items like an HVAC unit, propane tank, or trash and recycling bins requires something larger than a fake rock. Exterior privacy screens are a simple way to get the job done—all it takes is a little thought on the style and material to make sure it matches or complements your house’s exterior. You can even find privacy screens with built-in planters, like this, so it looks less like an awkward barrier and more like a part of your curb appeal plan.

Trellises

If the planter screen seems like a great idea, consider the power of a trellis and a climbing plant, which creates a privacy screen with a more natural look. You can buy a trellis in different shapes, too, so you can train your climbing plants to cover up just about anything—like a tube trellis to cover a downspout or an ugly section of exposed pipe. And you can make your own trellis, so you can cover up just about anything with a climbing plant.

Paint

A couple of coats of paint can transform just about anything from eyesore to purposeful decoration. If you can’t easily cover up a large propane tank, HVAC unit, or other piece of equipment drawing the eye outside your house, consider painting it. A bold pop of color that complements the rest of your home’s curb appeal might be sufficient, but you can also let your creative sparks fly a bit, transforming a propane tank into a piece of folk art.

Potted plants

If you’ve got small stuff marring the exterior of your house, like a natural gas service line or an exterior meter, it’s easy to install a couple of potted plants around it. With minimal effort, you can place several plants strategically around whatever it is you want to hide. Depending on your location and the existing landscaping around your house, the best plants to use will probably be evergreen shrubs, because they grow pretty tall and full. The downside to evergreens is that they can take a while to grow in, so instead you could opt for a faster-growing plant, like hydrangea.

Outdoor furniture

If the ugly thing ruining your house is on a sidewalk or faces the street, you could also consider adding some furniture, like a bench, that fits over the ugly bit. Instead of a random screen or collection of plants that make it pretty clear you’re hiding something, a bench, storage box, or patio set looks more purposeful.

Consider a storage bench that’s large enough to cover what you’re hiding, then remove the back or bottom so it can be placed directly over what you’re obscuring. If you’re covering a gas line, however, make sure the bench or box is slatted for ventilation before you cover it up—they need to vent to the outside air.

Robots can serve pizza, crawl over alien planets, swim like octopuses and jellyfish, cosplay as humans, and even perform surgery. But can they walk on water?

Rhagobot isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of a robot. Inspired by Rhagovelia water striders, semiaquatic insects also known as ripple bugs, these tiny bots can glide across rushing streams because of the robotization of an evolutionary adaptation.

Rhagovelia (as opposed to other species of water striders) have fan-like appendages toward the ends of their middle legs that passively open and close depending on how the water beneath them is moving. This is why they appear to glide effortlessly across the water’s surface. Biologist Victor Ortega-Jimenez of the University of California, Berkeley, was intrigued by how such tiny insects can accelerate and pull off rapid turns and other maneuvers, almost as if they are flying across a liquid surface.

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Yesterday afternoon, while much of the country enjoyed Labor Day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk published a new master plan for the company to his social media platform. It’s the fourth such document for Tesla, replacing the goals Musk laid out in 2023 when he said the company would sell 20 million EVs a year in 2030. This time, it is not entirely sure what Tesla’s plan actually entails. The text, which reads as though it was written by AI, is at times anodyne, at times confusing, but always free of specifics.

Each iteration of the master plan is Tesla’s north star, the new plan reads, promising to “to deliver unconstrained sustainability without compromise,” whatever that actually means.

“Now, we are combining our manufacturing capabilities with our autonomous prowess to deliver new products and services that will accelerate global prosperity and human thriving driven by economic growth shared by all,” reads the plan.

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UK weather agency Met Office, in a blog post: Provisional Met Office statistics confirm that summer 2025 is officially the warmest summer on record for the UK. Analysis by Met Office climate scientists has also shown that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would be in a ‘natural’ climate with no human caused greenhouse gas emissions.

The UK’s mean temperature from 1 June to 31 August stands at 16.10C, which is 1.51C above the long-term meteorological average. This surpasses the previous record of 15.76C, set in 2018, and pushes the summer of 1976 out of the top five warmest summers in a series dating back to 1884.

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