The kernel’s swap subsystem is a complex and often unloved beast. It is
also a critical component in the memory-management subsystem and has a
significant impact on the performance of the system as a whole. At the
2025 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management and BPF Summit, Kairui
Song outlined a plan to simplify and
optimize the kernel’s swap code. A first installment
of that work, written with help from Chris Li, was merged for the 6.18
release. This article will catch up with the 6.18 work, setting the stage
for a future look at the changes that are yet to be merged.
Sony Patent Hints At A Button-Less Controller, Hopefully Not For The PS6

Console gamers love new tech, but there are ones that we hope never ever make it to production. Case in point: Sony has patented a controller that ditches physical buttons entirely in favor of a giant, customizable touchscreen. Heresy!
Sony’s patent for a fully customizable, button-less controller
The patent, titled Devices and Methods
The Apple Watch Series 11 is back on sale for $299
Whether you’re one of the few people still keeping up with New Year’s resolutions or just want an upgraded smartwatch, now is a good time to get an Apple Watch. Currently, the Apple Watch Series 11 is on sale for $299, down from $399. The 25 percent discount brings the 2025 model back down to its record-low price.
We named the Apple Watch Series 11 as our choice for best smartwatch overall. It scored a 90 in our review thanks to its 24 hours-plus of battery life and a thin, light design that’s easy to wear. It also offers new health metrics, including Apple’s hypertension alerts system and Sleep Score.
The Apple Watch Series 11 deal is available on the 42mm case with a small/medium band. It also only includes GPS and four colorways: the Jet Black and Space Gray aluminum cases with a Black sport band, the Rose Gold aluminum case with a Light Blush sport band and the Silver aluminum case with a Purple Fog sport band.
Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and 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-apple-watch-series-11-is-back-on-sale-for-299-151616498.html?src=rss
ASUS ROG Kithara Open-Back Gaming Headset Promises Audiophile Sound For $299

The peripherals market is absolutely flush with gaming headsets of all kinds, so how do you make a splash in a sprawling sea of options? You team up with HiFiMAN, which specializes in planar-magnetic headphones, to develop a headset built for gamers and purportedly discerning enough for audiophiles, and price it at $299. That’s exactly what
This Apple Pencil Alternative Drops 43% to a New Record Low, Compatible With iPad Pro and iPad Mini

It’s time to unlock the full potential of your iPad.
The post This Apple Pencil Alternative Drops 43% to a New Record Low, Compatible With iPad Pro and iPad Mini appeared first on Kotaku.
Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 hits Netflix on April 23
While the main series might be over, Netflix is far from done with Stranger Things. The first spin-off to hit the streaming service will be Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85. The company had said that the animated show would arrive sometime this year and now, alongside a new trailer, it confirmed a release date of April 23.
The trailer is a bit of an odd watch given that Stranger Things wrapped up only a month ago. Going from that to this animated style with a whole new voice cast is jarring, but a fun gag at the end of the clip taps into certain misconceptions the audience might have.
Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is set during the winter between seasons 2 and 3 of the original show. After Eleven closes the gate to the Upside Down, some nasties from the other dimension still persist in our heroes’ world. The trailer doesn’t give too much away on the story front otherwise, but there’s a suitably hairy moment involving a circular saw.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/stranger-things-tales-from-85-hits-netflix-on-april-23-150436136.html?src=rss
Magneto Is Out Here Spoiling Avengers: Doomsday: ‘I Probably Shouldn’t Have Said That’

Ian McKellen let details about a scene from the movie slip in an interview
The post Magneto Is Out Here Spoiling <em>Avengers: Doomsday</em>: ‘I Probably Shouldn’t Have Said That’ appeared first on Kotaku.
Everything We Think We Know About the Samsung Galaxy S26 Series
It’s been more than a year since the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra were unveiled, which means we’re overdue some new flagship phones from Samsung. While nothing has been officially revealed about the Galaxy S26, a number of leaks and rumors that have appeared online, providing a pretty good idea of what to expect.
With the caveat that none of this is confirmed (though this information all comes from well-known tipsters with decent track records when it comes to future Samsung products), here’s everything the rumors are telling us right now. We’ll know how much of it is spot-on once the devices are announced—perhaps as soon as the end of this month.
What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series’ launch date and pricing
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S25 phones on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, and they then went on sale on Friday, Feb. 7. We’re already into February 2026, and there’s still no word about the Galaxy S26 series, so for whatever reason, Samsung hasn’t been able to stick to the same schedule that it used last year for its flagship phones’ launch.
Still, we should see these handsets appear before we’re too much further into 2026. According to information obtained by the team at Dealabs, Samsung is planning to hold a launch event on Wednesday, Feb. 25—which would align with the day of the week that Samsung usually likes to hold its Unpacked events.
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That date has been repeated by veteran leaker Evan Blass, so it looks as certain as anything can be without any official confirmation. There will then be a short preorder period before the phones actually go on sale, as usual, and the Galaxy S26 series is being tipped to start shipping on Wednesday, March 11.
As for pricing, it would seem that these Galaxy S26 handsets are going to cost you as much as their Galaxy S25 counterparts did when they first came out. Several sources, including reports from South Korean media, predict the following starting prices: $799 for the Galaxy S26, $999 for the Galaxy S26 Plus, and $1,299 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series’ design
The three models we’re expecting—the standard model, the Plus model, and the Ultra model—match up with what Samsung has done in previous years, including 2025. It’s possible that we’ll see a more affordable FE (Fan Edition) version of the Galaxy S26 later in the year—the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE launched in September 2025.
What we’re probably not going to see is a Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge. The Galaxy S25 Edge, the thinnest Galaxy phone to date, broke cover in May 2025, measuring just 5.8mm front to back. However, multiple sources (including the well-respected Jukan) suggest that sluggish sales have led to the model being dropped this year. (It seems demand is weak for the iPhone Air as well.)
Credit: Samsung
When it comes to the designs of these phones, we’re not expecting much to change at all. Android Headlines has posted renders for the 6.3-inch Galaxy S26, the 6.7-inch Galaxy S26 Plus, and the 6.9-inch Galaxy S26 Ultra: That’s a slight increase in screen size (from 6.2 inches) for the standard model compared to the Galaxy S25, but the other two look like they’ll have the same sized displays as their predecessors.
The only real change in terms of aesthetics is a pill-shaped camera island on the back. This was missing on the Galaxy S25 series, but did show up on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Multiple colors have been rumored, in part through wallpaper leaks: They include gray, peach, purple, light blue, black, and silver for the standard model, and black, white, silver shadow, sky blue, cobalt violet, and pink gold for the Ultra model.
What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series’ specs and features
The Samsung Galaxy S26 phones will come with the standard processor speed bump: As reported by SamMobile, it looks as though the handsets are going to be fitted with a mix of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 from Qualcomm, and Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 processor, depending on region. If previous years are any indication, all the handsets sold in the US will have Snapdragon CPUs inside.
Don’t expect massive leaps forward in terms of cameras: According to The Elec in South Korea, the Galaxy S26 cameras will match those on the Galaxy S25 (50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto), as Samsung tries to keep costs down. However, the Ultra model may get treated to a new 10MP telephoto camera.
Credit: Samsung
There may be better news when it comes to battery capacity, though this is only one of the contributors to battery life. As Wccftech reports, the Galaxy S26 is rumored to be getting a 4,300mAh battery, compared to the 4,000mAh battery of its predecessor—and the other two models are apparently getting similar bumps as well.
It seems as though this will be the year that Samsung adds MagSafe-style accessory snapping on top of wireless charging to its flagship Galaxy phones. WinFuture has managed to obtain details of some of the official magnetic cases that are apparently coming our way, together with the phones themselves.
Credit: Lifehacker
There is one feature that Samsung has officially teased, and that’s a “new layer of privacy” for Galaxy phone screens. When this privacy feature is enabled, it will be much harder for anyone but you to see what’s on your display—cutting down the risks of ‘shoulder surfers’ getting a glance at passwords, PIN codes, or other sensitive information.
Overall then, it seems we’ll be getting rather modest upgrades from Samsung this time around, in terms of both the hardware design and the internal specs. On the software side there are several new features to look forward to with One UI 8.5, including improved security and sharing tools, and yet more AI functionality.
Devs Behlind Steam Game With Over 300,000 Reviews Hit The Panic Button After A Malicious Mod Starts Deleting Fans’ Data

People Playground players are being urged to wipe their Steam Workshop mod lists
The post Devs Behlind Steam Game With Over 300,000 Reviews Hit The Panic Button After A Malicious Mod Starts Deleting Fans’ Data appeared first on Kotaku.
Loongson 3B6000 Benchmarks: How China’s LoongArch CPU Compares To AMD Zen 5, Intel Arrow Lake & Raspberry Pi 5
Recently I finally got my hands on a LoongArch processor, the ISA developed by China’s Loongson Technology as an evolution from their earlier use of the MIPS64 ISA and inspired by RISC-V and other modern ISAs. The Loongson-3B6000 features 12 cores / 24 threads with dual channel DDR4 ECC memory support. Here is a look at how that latest-generation LoongArch desktop processor compares to the current generation AMD Zen 5 and Intel Arrow Lake desktop processors under Linux. Plus also tossing in the Raspberry Pi 5 (Raspberry Pi 500+) for an ARM reference point.
Narwhals become quieter as the Arctic Ocean grows louder
For most of their evolutionary history, narwhals have relied more on sound than sight to survive in the Arctic’s dark icy waters.
The speckled toothed whales—sometimes referred to as “unicorns of the sea” for the long, spiral tusks that protrude from the heads of males—navigate, hunt, and communicate using echolocation. By emitting a series of calls, whistles, and high frequency clicks—as many as a thousand per second—and listening for the echoes that bounce back, they are able to locate prey hundreds to thousands of feet deep and detect narrow cracks in sea ice where they can surface to breathe.
But as global temperatures continue to rise, the acoustic world narwhals depend on is rapidly shifting throughout their range, from northeastern Canada and Greenland to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago and Arctic waters in Russia. It’s getting louder.
Starbucks Bets on Robots To Brew a Turnaround in Customers
Starbucks has been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into AI and automation — testing robots that take drive-through orders, virtual assistants that help baristas recall recipes and manage schedules, and scanning tools that count inventory — as the 55-year-old coffee chain tries to reverse several years of struggling sales.
The company last week reported its first same-store sales increase in two years in the U.S., where it earns roughly 70% of its revenue. Shares still slid 5% on concerns that heavy spending, including $500 million to boost staffing, had hurt profits. CEO Brian Niccol, who joined in 2024 after engineering Chipotle’s turnaround, told the BBC he is confident consistent growth will address that; the company has pledged to find $2 billion in cost savings over three years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Anker Clears Out Soundcore Boom 3i Outdoor Speaker at Nearly 50% Off, Even Lower Than Black Friday

Whether you’re listening to your favorite songs or even podcasts, this speaker can make it sound great.
The post Anker Clears Out Soundcore Boom 3i Outdoor Speaker at Nearly 50% Off, Even Lower Than Black Friday appeared first on Kotaku.
Apple Revamps Online Store With Custom Macs—But You Can Save Elsewhere

Apple is taking a partial page from bulk OEM system builders and boutique PC outfits by now offering a similar part-by-part configuration process, rather than the old way of serving up a selection of preconfigured models. The component options haven’t changed, but the way you go about piecing together a Mac feels a little more personal and
The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: Humans Are in a Dance Battle With AI Babies
Your social media feed is probably showing you something totally different, but this week, young people are fleeing TikTok (or at least posting about fleeing TikTok), AI and humanity are locked in a high-stakes dance battle, AI food is yelling at everyone, and we’re learning a lot about “young hos.”
TikTok refugees head to Upscrolled
Since it was released in 2017, social media platform TikTok has been the way young people communicate, but that could be changing. Alarm over recent changes in the app’s privacy policy and accusations that its new, American owners are messing up the algorithm have some users deleting their accounts and leaving. Or at least saying they’re leaving. But where will they go?
The last time this kind of thing happened, TikTokers headed to another Chinese social media app called RedNote, but this time, a lot of people say they’re migrating to Upscrolled. The app, which briefly hit number one on the app store charts, was created by Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian entrepreneur Issam Hijazi. Upscrolled promises an antidote to the “Double standards, algorithmic bias, selective censorship, and profit over principle” of other social media platforms. The app doesn’t allow “hate speech” but promises less censorship of ideas, no shadow-banning, no data-sharing, and “No black-box AI” for curation, all delivered in a form-factor that’s familiar to users.
So, what’s the downside? Well, it’s a small team and it seems to be having some issues with the number of downloads. More troubling are reports of a flood of antisemitic material appearing on the site. In a statement to The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Upscrolled spokeperson Gabriella Bord wrote, “Our content moderation hasn’t been able to keep up with the massive rise of users this week,” and “We’re working with digital rights experts to grow our Trust & Safety team and are beefing up our content moderation to prevent this,” so maybe the moderation team is just having some growing pains.
Viral video of the week: human vs. AI baby dancing
This week’s viral video is more of a viral video trend, and it involves a battle of dancing babies.
It starts with the post below, from @mindalchemy0236, which I apologize for in advance.
An ad for the “Baby Dance” app, this video has been viewed over 100 million times. It became so overplayed on TiKTok that users fought back in the only way they could: Through dance. In a modern re-enactment of the American myth of John Henry vs. the Steam Engine, users on TikTok are locked in dance battle with AI. People responded to the annoying ad with videos of their human children doing the same dance for real, joking that it was to save $1.98, the app’s price.
Kids got into it, throwing shade at AI at the same time.
Then grown-ups got in on it,
Grannies started doing it,
and celebrities like Lisa Rinna got into the act.
So it turned into a whole thing, and according to some users, human users ended up winning because TikTok’s algorithm is showing more human remakes than the original ad that annoyed everyone. What does it all mean? Is this how the robot-human war will be decided? How does it relate to the original dancing baby, one of our first internet memes? Is history turning back on itself and should we invest in Ally McBeal reruns? I just don’t know, but for what it’s worth, John Henry won the battle with the steam shovel, but the effort exhausted him and he died.
AI food yelling videos: brain rot that’s good for you
I’m always trying to find good things about artificial intelligence. So far I got:
But I’m adding videos of food yelling at people.
For real though. This growing meme format involves asking AI to make videos of food angrily telling you how to properly and safely prepare and store it. They’re entertaining, educational, and if one person remembers to throw away rice that’s left out, it could save a life and be worth all that cooling water. Kids need to know all this junk and for some reason they like brain rot. Check out these meaty boys:
And these angry fellas:
I can’t vouch for the accuracy of every food tip on the hashtag, but I watched a bunch of these videos and so far, they’re solid.
What does “young ho” mean?
I’m sure you know what both “ho” and “young” mean, but put them together and it becomes something else, both a reclamation of the word “ho” and an expression of youth-based solidarity.
The trend started with mildly insulting, older-people-bag-on-youngins posts on X like this one:
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But over on TikTok, @kensdremgurl went viral by laying down a mini-manifesto for young hos:
Summing up the list with, “all a young ho is is someone who’s freed themself from being inconvenienced.”
Other TikTokers started listing which young ho traits they share
and making their own observations, adding these traits to the list:
-
Throwing away the containers from Chinese food, even if their mom wants to save them.
9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 1st, 2026
The 277th installment of the 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup is here for the week ending February 1st, 2026, keeping you updated on the most important developments in the Linux world.
Steam MMO That Raised $3.2 Million On Kickstarter Implodes Just Two Months After Launch As Devs Resign In Protest

Ashes of Creation is currently getting review-bombed as allegations fly
The post Steam MMO That Raised $3.2 Million On Kickstarter Implodes Just Two Months After Launch As Devs Resign In Protest appeared first on Kotaku.
Specialized issues stop-ride notice on Turbo Como SL due to steerer tube cracks
Specialized has issued a stop-ride notice on all of its Turbo Como SL models after identifying a potential issue with the forks.
The brand says the steerer tube on affected models may develop a small fatigue crack, which could lead to a progressive failure of the fork, posing a fall hazard.
All Turbo Como SL bikes sold from 2021 onwards are affected, including all Turbo Como SL 4.0 and 5.0 bikes, with belt or chain drives.
Specialized says the ‘Como SL’ marking typically appears as a small, subtle graphic on the top tube or back of the seat tube.
Other Como bikes without the ‘SL’ designation are not affected.
The brand says owners should stop riding the bikes immediately, warn new owners and await an update to its recall page.
As of last month, it said it would be several weeks before there are details of an approved rework plan.
The list of affected SKUs is here.
The Last Of Us Might Not Get A Fourth Season, Actually

HBO boss Casey Bloys says it ‘certainly seems’ that the third season will be the last
The post <em>The Last Of Us</em> Might Not Get A Fourth Season, Actually appeared first on Kotaku.
The latest iPad mini is $100 off right now
We’ve finally made it to February, but, with the ongoing long nights, you might want a pick-me-up to get you through the rest of winter. Take the Apple iPad mini with the A17 Pro chip, which is on sale for $400, down from $500. Its small size is perfect for cozying up on the couch or to use on your daily commute.
Apple released this iPad mini in late 2024 and it was a solid update. We gave it an 83 in our review thanks to the power of its A17 Pro chip and that it comes with a minimum of 128GB of storage. The model currently on sale comes with 128GB, Wi-Fi and all four color options: Blue, Purple, Space Gray and Starlight.
We named the Apple iPad mini our favorite compact iPad — though, to be fair, its only competitor is itself. Still, it’s a good iPad with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, Apple Intelligence and 12MP Wide back and 12MP Ultra Wide cameras. For 20 percent off, it’s a great option for a light, useful way to entertain yourself through the rest of winter and beyond.
Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and 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-latest-ipad-mini-is-100-off-right-now-140900983.html?src=rss