Meet the first person to own over 40,000 paid Steam games

If you spend any significant amount of time using Steam, you’ve probably joked ruefully about your massive backlog of games acquired through cheap bundles or the service’s frequent massive sales. However, we’re willing to bet your backlog can’t hold a candle to that of SonixLegend, who recently earned a unique Steam badge as the first person to own 40,000 distinct paid games on Valve’s platform.

Based in Shanghai, SonixLegend obtained their 40,000th Steam game this week, according to Steam’s badge data, putting them atop an elite club of just 19 Steam users with at least 30,000 paid games. According to SteamDB tracking, that makes for an account roughly worth anywhere from $248,000 (based on the lowest prices ever tracked in the database) to $642,000 (based on the current prices of those games).

However, SonixLegend’s full collection might be more extensive than this massive achievement suggests. That’s because Steam’s Game Collector badges don’t track any of the many, many shovelware titles that have failed to reach “broad player engagement and some commercial success” on the service under Valve’s “profile features” guidelines. It also reportedly doesn’t include almost all free-to-play games, which could easily be used to inflate a title count for determined badge chasers.

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Linux Laptop Vendor MALIBAL Attempting To Pursue Made-In-USA Laptops

Linux/Windows laptop vendor MALIBAL that caused quite a fuss last year when suggesting against supporting Coreboot and in turn blocked shipping of products to states/countries where the involved developers were located is now pursuing an initiative of made-in-America laptops. But it’s going to be a lengthy journey and first they are soliciting investments to first pursue American-made keyboards and touchpads…

Apple Has Made It Impossible to Downgrade From iOS 26

iOS 26 is one of Apple’s biggest operating system updates in years. The new “Liquid Glass” design, while controversial, offers the first major UI overhaul since iOS 7, while new features like call screening and hold assist might change the way your make and receive phone calls.

If you have an iPhone, you may be tempted to install the new update—and, seeing as it has been out for a week and a half now, you might have updated already. If you haven’t installed iOS 26, yet, however, think twice before you do, because you’re going to be stuck with it: Apple has made it impossible to downgrade and return to iOS 18.

You can’t go back to iOS 18

As reported by MacRumors, Apple stopped “signing” iOS 18.6.2 on Monday. When Apple signs a particular piece of software, it means you can download that software to your compatible device. Apple stops signing software shortly after it releases a new version. It’s a system meant to block users from installing old software versions on their Apple devices, intended to protect those users from insecurities in operating systems that haven’t been patched.

As such, now that iOS 18.6.2 is no longer being signed, there is no way to downgrade to that software version from iOS 26 if you change your mind. Though the process was tedious, previously, you could downgrade from iOS 26 by putting your iPhone in recovery mode, erasing it completely, and installing a new version of 18.6.2. Now that Apple has stopped signing 18.6.2, however, there’s no way to install it, so a factory reset will only leave you with an iPhone running iOS 26, and none of your data.

You might be wondering why you can’t downgrade to iOS 18.7, since that’s a newer version of iOS 18 than 18.6.2. As users on the MacRumors forum point out, you need an IPSW file in order to downgrade your iPhone, but Apple hasn’t provided an IPSW file with iOS 18.7, as that update is only available over the air for uses already running iOS 18. That is to say: Unless your iPhone is already running 18.6.2, you can’t install iOS 18.7.

If you haven’t updated your iPhone yet, you have two options. First, there’s nothing forcing you to install iOS 26 on your device. You can keep running iOS 18.6.2 or iOS 18.7 as long as you want, and take advantage of any future security updates Apple provides to keep your iPhone protected. Alternately, you can go ahead and install iOS 26, with the understanding that you won’t have the option to undo it—though you will be able to undo many of the UI changes, at least. And if your main concern is performance and battery life, it might be smart to wait for iOS 26.1, which is currently in beta testing.

HP Z2 Mini G1a Workstation Review: Petite Power For Professionals

HP Z2 Mini G1a Workstation Review: Petite Power For Professionals
HP Z2 Mini G1a (Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 / 128GB / 2TB): $5,021 as tested, starting at $1,299 HP’s latest Z workstation packs 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, discrete-class GPU horsepower, and 128GB of RAM into a compact package barely bigger than an ATX PSU.   Professional, Understated Aesthetics Solid Single- And Multi-Core Performance Generous GPU…

Qualcomm CEO Says He’s Seen Google’s Android-ChromeOS Merger, Calls It ‘Incredible’

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told attendees at yesterday’s Snapdragon Summit opening keynote that he has seen Google’s merged Android-ChromeOS platform for PCs. Speaking alongside Google’s head of platforms and devices Rick Osterloh, Amon said the software “delivers on the vision of convergence of mobile and PC” and that he “can’t wait to have one.”

Osterloh confirmed Google is building a common technical foundation for PCs and desktop computing systems that combines Android and ChromeOS. The platform will include Gemini, the full Android AI stack, all Google applications and the Android developer community. “I’ve seen it, it is incredible,” replied Amon excitedly. “It delivers on the vision of convergence of mobile and PC. I can’t wait to have one.”


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The ThermoWorks Thermapen One is 30 percent off right now

When it comes to cooking meat, finding that all-important sweet spot between under- and over-cooked can be tricky to get right every single time. That is, unless you’re using one of the ThermoWorks instant-read thermometers that we’ve been big proponents of for a long time. And right now our favorite one is down to a record low of $76 in select colors, as part of the brand’s fall warehouse sale. Usually priced at $109, you’re saving $33 if you pick one up now.

The Thermapen One records accurate temperatures in an instant (specifically one second or less), which can be the difference between a perfectly medium-rare steak and one that requires a bit too much chewing. This model also has a handy auto-rotating backlit display that allows you to easily see the reading regardless of how you’re holding it. It also has useful auto-wake and sleep features, which again, are useful when doneness deals in seconds. An IP67 waterproofing rating means you don’t have to worry about it getting splashed. That said, the thermometer isn’t suitable for dishwashers, so keep that in mind.

The Thermapen One took home our best thermometer award, so this is definitely a deal we’d confidently recommend taking advantage of, but it isn’t the only one available right now. ThermoWorks’ sale also includes offers on its various BBQ alarm thermometers, battery banks, kitchen utensils and more. You can shop all the deals here.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-thermoworks-thermapen-one-is-30-percent-off-right-now-163043164.html?src=rss

My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The 2nd Generation AirPods Pro

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Since the AirPods Pro 3 were released this September, I’ve been anticipating a big price drops for the older 2nd-generation AirPods Pro, and that price drop is now here: Amazon is selling refurbished 2nd Generation AirPods Pros for $139.99, down from the previous price of $209.99 for a refurbished pair and $249 for a new pair. This is the lowest price yet for this model of AirPods Pro, according to price tracking tools.

If you don’t mind them being refurbished, these are great earbuds for a great price. This model, which came out in September 2023, is the first to feature charging via USB-C. They also came out with a few features that still older models didn’t have, like adaptive transparency. You can expect solid battery life, with Apple claiming up to 30 hours of listening time on a single charge.

The AirPods Pro offer excellent noise cancellation, plus their silicone tips provide a good seal that will naturally block a lot of background noise without the need to turn the ANC feature on. Transparency Mode lets you have a conversation with someone while your audio is still playing, and Conversation Awareness will automatically lower the volume of your media and boost the voices of the people you’re talking to. The Adaptive Audio feature is also pretty cool: It reduces any loud sounds to a tolerable 85 dB, so sudden loud noises in your media don’t startle or distract you. All of that to say: While they don’t have all the bells and whistles of the AirPods Pro 3, these earbuds still offer many features that make them a great option in 2025—especially at their current discount.


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Anti-vaccine allies cheer as Trump claims shots have “too much liquid”

When the bar is set at suggesting that people inject bleach into their veins, it’s hard to reach a new low. But in a deranged press event on autism Monday evening, President Trump seemed to go for it—sharing “rumors” and his “strong feelings” not just on Tylenol but also his bonkers views on childhood vaccines.

Trump was there with his health secretary, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to link autism to the use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy. While medical experts condemn the claim as unproven and dangerous (which it is), Kennedy’s anti-vaccine followers decried it as a distraction from their favored false and dangerous explanation—that vaccines cause autism (which they don’t).

Pinning the blame on Tylenol instead of vaccines enraged Kennedy’s own anti-vaccine organization, Children’s Health Defense. In the run-up to the event Monday evening, CHD retweeted an all-caps defense of Tylenol, and CHD President Mary Holland called the announcement a “sideshow” in an interview with Steve Bannon.

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Why does OpenAI need six giant data centers?

On Tuesday, OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced plans for five new US AI data center sites for Stargate, their joint AI infrastructure project, bringing the platform to nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and over $400 billion in investment over the next three years.

The massive buildout aims to handle ChatGPT’s 700 million weekly users and train future AI models, although critics question whether the investment structure can sustain itself. The companies said the expansion puts them on track to secure the full $500 billion, 10-gigawatt commitment they announced in January by the end of 2025.

The five new sites will include three locations developed through an OpenAI and Oracle partnership: Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and an unspecified Midwest location. These sites, along with a 600-megawatt expansion near the flagship Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, can deliver over 5.5 gigawatts of capacity, which means the computers on site will be able to draw up to 5.5 billion watts of electricity when running at full load. The companies expect the sites to create over 25,000 onsite jobs.

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Instagram reaches 3 billion monthly users

Nearly 15 years in, Instagram has passed a new milestone: the app now reaches 3 billion monthly users, Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post on Threads. That’s up from 2 billion monthly users in 2022.

Meta doesn’t regularly share monthly or daily user numbers for its “family” of apps, but Facebook reached 2 billion daily users in 2023; WhatsApp passed 2 billion monthly users in 2020. The company reported 3.48 billion “daily active people” across facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger last quarter.

Meta shared the latest metric as it reportedly plans some significant changes to Instagram. According to Bloomberg, Meta will soon make Reels an even more prominent part of the app. Instagram exec Adam Mosseri told the publication that users will see a redesigned navigation bar that will “highlight private messaging and Reels.” The company will also run a test in South Korea and India that will allow users to set Reels as the default feed for the app. (Instagram’s newly-announced iPad app already makes Reels the default feed in order “to reflect how people use bigger screens today,” the company has said.)

It’s probably no coincidence that these changes come as the United States government edges closer toward an agreement that will put the US version of TikTok largely in the hands of US-based investors. Despite more than a year of uncertainty surrounding the app’s future in the United States, TikTok is still a formidable competitor to Meta more broadly and Instagram specifically.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-reaches-3-billion-monthly-users-160554420.html?src=rss

Some Private Equity Firms Doomed To Fail as High-Flying Industry Loses Its Way

Private equity firms are facing systemic challenges after a half-century of meteoric growth as attractive takeover targets become scarce and financing costs remain elevated while exits prove increasingly difficult. US buyout funds currently hold more than 12,000 companies that would take approximately nine years to fully distribute at current rates, according to PitchBook data.

The industry holds $1.2 trillion in dry powder and nearly a quarter of that capital was pledged at least four years ago. More than 18,000 private capital funds seek $3.3 trillion from increasingly reluctant investors, Bain estimates. Quarterly returns for US private equity funds fell from 13.5% in Q2 2021 to 0.8% in Q4 2024. Apollo President Jim Zelter described the situation as a “natural washout” at an investor conference this month. Charles Wilson of Selby Jennings added that “many PE firms are dead already, they just don’t know it” and noted survival depends on how forgiving limited partners — the entities, including pension funds and endowments, that have invested in private equity firms — prove when firms return for new fundraising.


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Jaguar Land Rover Hack ‘Has Cost 30,000 Cars and Threatens Supply Chain’

Jaguar Land Rover has halted production for nearly a month following a major cyberattack, costing an estimated 30,000 vehicles and billions in lost revenue. “The company said on Tuesday that production would be halted for another week until at least October 1, which increased concerns that a full return to production could be months away,” reports The Times. From the report: David Bailey, professor of business economics at Birmingham University, said the JLR statement did not commit to reopening production on October 1 and even if it did “it’s not going to be back to normal, but phased production start with some lines opening before others, as we saw after the Covid closure back in 2020.” He said: “It’s 24 days [shutdown] as of September 24. So that is roughly 1,000 cars a day, 24,000 cars not produced. So by then, that’s about 1.7 billion pounds in lost revenue. By October 1, it will be a hit to revenue of something like 2.2 billion pounds. It’s pretty massive. JLR can get through, but they’re going to be burning through cash this month.”

Bailey also raised concerns that smaller companies further down the supply chain lacked the cash reserves to withstand the shutdown. The company directly employs more than 30,000 people, and it is estimated that approximately 200,000 workers in the supply chain depend on work from JLR. “The union has said that in some cases, staff have been told to go and apply for universal credit. There are firms I know that have applied for bank loans to keep going. But even then, you know they’re approaching the limit of what they do. There’s an added knock-on effect that some of the suppliers also supply other car assemblers, Toyota or Mini. So some of those are concerned that bits of the supply chain may go under and affect them as well, because the industry is so connected. One way or another, the government’s going to take a hit. Either through some sort of emergency support, whether that’s furlough or emergency short-term loans or through unemployment benefit, if this carries on.”

There has been uncertainty over the extent of the cyberattack and exactly how the company has been affected, as well as who is responsible for it. According to one source, some JLR staff were still unable last week to access the Slack messaging system through the company’s “one sign on” system. The JLR statement added: “We have made this decision to give clarity for the coming week as we build the timeline for the phased restart of our operations and continue our investigation.”


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NASA Plans Crewed Moon Mission For February

NASA aims to launch its first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, as early as February. The 10-day Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby to test systems, paving the way for future Moon landings under the Artemis program. The BBC reports: Lakiesha Hawkins, Nasa’s acting deputy associate administrator said it would be an important moment in the human exploration of space. “We together have a front row seat to history,” she told a news conference this afternoon. “The launch window could open as early as the fifth of February, but we want to emphasize that safety is our top priority.” Artemis Launch Director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson explained that the powerful rocket system built to take the astronauts to the Moon, the Space Launch System (SLS) was “pretty much stacked and ready to go.” All that remained was to complete the crew capsule, called Orion, connected to SLS and to complete ground tests.

The Artemis II launch will see four astronauts go on a ten-day round trip to the Moon and back to the Earth. The astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, of Nasa and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, will not land on the Moon, though they will be the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The lead Artemis II flight director, Jeff Radigan explained that the crew would be flying further into space than anyone had been before. “They’re going at least 5,000 nautical miles (9,200Km) past the Moon, which is much higher than previous missions have gone,” he told reporters. Further reading: NASA Introduces 10 New Astronaut Candidates


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Why AI Chatbots Can’t Process Persian Social Etiquette

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: If an Iranian taxi driver waves away your payment, saying, “Be my guest this time,” accepting their offer would be a cultural disaster. They expect you to insist on paying — probably three times — before they’ll take your money. This dance of refusal and counter-refusal, called taarof, governs countless daily interactions in Persian culture. And AI models are terrible at it.

New research released earlier this month titled “We Politely Insist: Your LLM Must Learn the Persian Art of Taarof” shows that mainstream AI language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta fail to absorb these Persian social rituals, correctly navigating taarof situations only 34 to 42 percent of the time. Native Persian speakers, by contrast, get it right 82 percent of the time. This performance gap persists across large language models such as GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Haiku, Llama 3, DeepSeek V3, and Dorna, a Persian-tuned variant of Llama 3.

A study led by Nikta Gohari Sadr of Brock University, along with researchers from Emory University and other institutions, introduces “TAAROFBENCH,” the first benchmark for measuring how well AI systems reproduce this intricate cultural practice. The researchers’ findings show how recent AI models default to Western-style directness, completely missing the cultural cues that govern everyday interactions for millions of Persian speakers worldwide. “Cultural missteps in high-consequence settings can derail negotiations, damage relationships, and reinforce stereotypes,” the researchers write.

“Taarof, a core element of Persian etiquette, is a system of ritual politeness where what is said often differs from what is meant,” the researchers write. “It takes the form of ritualized exchanges: offering repeatedly despite initial refusals, declining gifts while the giver insists, and deflecting compliments while the other party reaffirms them. This ‘polite verbal wrestling’ (Rafiee, 1991) involves a delicate dance of offer and refusal, insistence and resistance, which shapes everyday interactions in Iranian culture, creating implicit rules for how generosity, gratitude, and requests are expressed.”


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What’s New on Netflix in October 2025

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Netflix’s October lineup has a little something for everyone. There are new seasons of familiar favorites, including the ninth installments of both Love Is Blind (Oct. 1), this time set in Denver, and real estate reality show Selling Sunset (Oct. 29). Nobody Wants This (Oct. 23), the rom-com series starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell, is returning for another season, along with other Netflix originals The Diplomat (Oct. 16) and The Witcher (Oct. 30).

The documentary slate this month is long: Those who liked the Emmy Award-winning Beckham may also enjoy Victoria Beckham (Oct. 9), a three-part series from the same creators. The Perfect Neighbor (Oct. 17)—a Sundance Film Festival award winner—examines the violent consequences of Florida’s stand-your-ground laws.

On the film side, Keira Knightley stars in The Woman in Cabin 10 (Oct. 10), a psychological thriller based on Ruth Ware’s 2016 novel. Knightley plays a journalist on assignment on a luxury cruise, where she believes she witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard. A House of Dynamite (Oct. 24) is a political thriller about the U.S. government response to an unidentified nuclear missile attack. The ensemble cast includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, and Anthony Ramos, among others.

Finally, Netflix is streaming the Six Kings Slam (Oct. 15), an exhibition tennis tournament held in Saudi Arabia featuring top players like Carlos Alcaraz, Janik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic.

Here’s everything coming to Netflix in October, and everything that’s leaving.

What’s coming to Netflix in October 2025

Available soon

Available October 1

  • Love Is Blind: Season 9—Netflix Series

  • RIV4LRIES—Netflix Series

  • About My Father

  • Austin Powers in Goldmember

  • Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

  • Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

  • Beverly Hills Cop

  • Beverly Hills Cop II

  • Beverly Hills Cop III

  • Blue Crush

  • The Book Club Murders

  • Casper

  • The Christmas Contract

  • Coach Carter

  • Coming to America

  • Daddy Day Care

  • Death Becomes Her

  • Dirty Dancing

  • Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

  • Dracula

  • Eddie Murphy: Raw

  • Elysium

  • Fifty Shades Darker

  • Fifty Shades Freed

  • Fifty Shades of Grey

  • Friends with Benefits

  • The Goonies

  • Hacksaw Ridge

  • Halo: Seasons 1-2

  • The Hurt Locker

  • I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

  • Law Abiding Citizen

  • The Lincoln Lawyer

  • The Mask

  • Meet Joe Black

  • Molly’s Game

  • Mr. & Mrs. Smith

  • NCIS: Seasons 18-19

  • Pineapple Express

  • Point Break

  • Red Dragon

  • Scarface

  • Sinister 2

  • Sister Act

  • Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

  • Slender Man

  • The Strangers

  • Taxi Driver

  • Training Day

  • The Way Home: Seasons 1-2

  • When a Stranger Calls

  • The Wrath of Becky

Available October 2

Available October 3

Available October 4

Available October 5

  • Despicable Me 3

  • Ip Man

  • Ip Man 2

  • Ip Man 3

  • Ip Man 4: The Finale

Available October 6

Available October 7

  • Nurse Jackie: Seasons 1-7

  • True Haunting—Netflix Documentary

  • We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Available October 8

Available October 9

Available October 10

Available October 11

  • Typhoon Family—Netflix Series

Available October 14

Available October 15

Available October 16

Available October 17

Available October 18

Don’t Say a Word

Available October 21

Available October 22

Available October 23

Available October 24

Available October 25

  • The Dream Life of Mr. Kim—Netflix Series

Available October 27

  • The Asset—Netflix Series

  • Dark Winds: Season 3

  • Sliding Doors

Available October 28

Available October 29

Available October 30

Available October 31

What’s leaving Netflix in October 2025

Leaving October 1

  • A Million Ways to Die in the West

  • A Night at the Roxbury

  • American Graffiti

  • American Pie

  • American Pie 2

  • Antz

  • Big Daddy

  • Blades of Glory

  • Born on the Fourth of July

  • Dazed and Confused

  • Dune

  • Focus

  • Friday Night Lights

  • Good Burger

  • Grown Ups

  • Grown Ups 2

  • Krampus

  • Mission: Impossible

  • Mission: Impossible II

  • Mission: Impossible III

  • Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

  • Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

  • Neighbors

  • Now You See Me

  • Now You See Me 2

  • Old School

  • Road Trip

  • Rudy

  • Rush Hour

  • Rush Hour 2

  • Rush Hour 3

  • Talk to Me

  • The Blues Brothers

  • The Departed

  • Wayne’s World

  • Wayne’s World 2

  • White Collar: Seasons 1-6

  • Zoolander

Leaving October 5

  • Clueless

Leaving October 7

  • The Hunger Games

  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

Leaving October 9

  • Insidious

  • Insidious: Chapter 2

  • Insidious: Chapter 3

Leaving October 16

  • Circle

  • Sinister

  • Sinister 2

Leaving October 20

  • Anyone But You

Leaving October 21

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Leaving October 23

  • Empire Records

  • Scream 2

  • Scream 3

  • Scream 4

Leaving October 24

  • The Family Business: Seasons 1-4

Leaving October 25

  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Leaving October 27

  • The Bourne Identity

  • The Bourne Supremacy

  • The Bourne Ultimatum

  • The Bourne Legacy