A government-backed visual novel fails at its one job
The post Anti-Extremism Game Accidentally Spawns Far-Right ‘Cute Goth E-Girl’ Meme appeared first on Kotaku.
[$] Linux Kernel Runtime Guard reaches its 1.0 release
The
Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG) is a out-of-tree loadable kernel module that
attempts to detect and report violations of the kernel’s internal invariants,
such as might be caused by an in-progress security exploit or a rootkit.
LKRG has been experimental since its
initial release in 2018. In September
2025, the project
announced
the 1.0 version. With the promises of stability that version brings, users might want more
information to decide whether to include it in their kernel.
Breakthrough Metal Could Revolutionize Chip Cooling And Thermal Management
A multi-institution research team has discovered a metallic material that conducts heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver, which are presently the primary metals used for industrial thermal management. The researchers believe that this discovery will have massive implications for extreme heat-dissipation applications,
How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl: TV channel, where to stream and more
We might still be in the midst of the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t plan ahead for Super Bowl LX. For those of you who just can’t with Roman numerals, thats Super Bowl 60, and it’s taking place this year at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, on February 8, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Like all other Sunday Night Football games this season, the championship game will be broadcast on Super Bowl Sunday on NBC, and will stream live on Peacock. And it’s not just the game that we’re excited for, either. This year’s halftime performer is singer and rapper Bad Bunny, and there will be pre-game performances by Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile, and Coco Jones, it’s truly an incredible lineup of talent. So while we wait to find out which teams will be competing in this year’s game, the least we can do is let you know everything you need to know to tune in to Super Bowl LX when it airs on Feb. 8.
How to watch Super Bowl LX
Date: Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: NBC, Telemundo
Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, NFL+ and more
2026 Super Bowl game time
The 2026 Super Bowl is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on Feb. 8, 2026.
2026 Super Bowl game channel
The 2026 Super Bowl will air on NBC, with a Spanish-language broadcast available on Telemundo.
Where is the 2026 Super Bowl being played?
The 2026 Super Bowl will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
What teams are playing in the 2026 Super Bowl?
The teams for the 2026 Super Bowl will be determined after the AFC and NFC Championship games are played on Sunday, Jan. 25. You can keep tabs on the post-season playoff bracket here.
How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl without cable
You can stream NBC and Telemundo on platforms like DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV, both of which are among Engadget’s choices for best streaming services for live TV. (Note that Fubo and NBC are currently in the midst of a contract dispute and NBC channels are not available on the platform.) The game will also be streaming on Peacock and on NFL+, though with an NFL+ subscription, you’re limited to watching the game on mobile devices.
Who is performing at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show?
Bad Bunny, who holds the title as the most-streamed artist in the world, will be headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance. You can expect that show to begin after the second quarter, likely between 8-8:30 p.m. ET. Singer Charlie Puth will also be at the game to perform the National Anthem, Brandi Carlile is scheduled to sing “America The Beautiful,” and Coco Jones will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Where to buy tickets to the 2026 Super Bowl:
Tickets to the 2026 Super Bowl are available on third-party resale platforms like StubHub and Gametime.
More ways to watch Super Bowl LX
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-2026-super-bowl-tv-channel-where-to-stream-and-more-173222003.html?src=rss
Arch the Easy Way, With Manjaro 26.0
Manjaro 26.0 aims to deliver Arch speed with fewer sharp edges; here’s how it handles installation, performance, and everyday tasks.
The post Arch the Easy Way, With Manjaro 26.0 appeared first on FOSS Force.
China Lagging in AI Is a ‘Fairy Tale,’ Mistral CEO Says
Claims that Chinese technology for AI lags the US are a “fairy tale,” Arthur Mensch, the chief executive officer of Mistral, said. From a report: “China is not behind the West,” Mensch said in an interview on Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. The capabilities of China’s open-source technology is “probably stressing the CEOs in the US.”
The remarks from the boss of one of Europe’s leading AI companies diverge from other tech leaders at Davos, who reassured lawmakers and business chiefs that China is behind the cutting edge by months or years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Cyberpunk 2077 VR Mod Needs To Be Free, Dev Says After Removal
CD PROJEKT RED executive Jan Rosner posted on X that the Luke Ross Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod could return as a free release.
After being issued a notice to take down a Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod, the mod on the Luke Ross Patreon was removed and Ross made an announcement that was shared widely. Rosner, a CD PROJEKT RED executive, confirmed that they had issued a strike because it was infringing on their Fan Content Guidelines, which prohibit “monetization” of their work. In other words, according to the developer of Cyberpunk 2077, the critical issue here is that Ross placed the mod behind a subscription paywall.
“We’d be happy to see it return as a free release,” Rosner wrote, noting The Witcher 3 publisher is a huge fan of mods.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you are within your rights in demanding that my software needs to be free,” Ross replied. “That said, I’m all for finding a win-win solution that makes it possible for your fans to keep enjoying Night City from the inside, in VR.”
Other VR mods from Ross previously released include Doom Eternal, Ghost of Tsushima, Elden Ring, and more. Flat2VR, meanwhile, known for porting flatscreen games to virtual reality, made a passionate plea to CD PROJEKT RED to officially port Cyberpunk 2077 to VR, calling it “a dream game to port.”
Why This Weekend’s Winter Storm Is Going to Suck Extra Bad
A warming Arctic set the stage for a massive winter storm expected to stretch 2,000 miles across the Eastern U.S. this weekend.
Now Instagram Is Down Too
If you just tried to open Instagram on your phone or computer, only to find that nothing would load, don’t worry: It’s not your wifi, nor is Verizon experiencing another outage. The fault instead lies with Meta, as Instagram is currently down. That’s according to Downdetector, owned by Lifehacker parent company Ziff Davis, which shows over 2,000 user reports of issues with Instagram at the time of this writing.
The issues seem to affect Instagram in all forms. While the mobile app was working last time I checked, I couldn’t get it to load in Safari. That means you might not be able to check out posts, add new posts, or send and receive DMs—at least until Meta figures out what’s causing the issue.
Inevitably, of course, it will: Outages and downtime happen, though it seems this week they’re happening with increasing frequency. There was, obviously, Verizon (which the company attributes to a software issue), but also issues with Yahoo!, X, and Microsoft 365. Something’s in the air this week, it seems. Whatever is going on with Instagram though, Meta will assuredly figure it in due time. Usually, these things are resolved pretty quickly, but if there’s a deeper issue, us Instagram users may have to go without the app for some time.
GeForce Now adds support for flight controllers
It only seems right that cloud gaming should welcome virtual pilots, and that’s definitely now the case if GeForce Now is your streaming platform of choice. One of the most frequently requested features from its community according to NVIDIA, flight control support has now been added to its GeForce Now offering, meaning you can live your Top Gun fantasies without worrying about your rig buckling under the pressure.
The first compatible peripheral is the Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS One — which incidentally NVIDIA is giving away to five winners of a competition it’s currently running, along with a month of GeForce Now Ultimate — with more to be supported over time. A dedicated row in the GeForce Now app will highlight games that you can play with flight controls, one of which will be Team Jade’s Delta Force, which arrives on the service soon.
Last year NVIDIA started using RTX 5080 GPUs to power its $20-per-month GeForce Now Ultimate servers, allowing for 5K streaming up to 120fps. Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar called the update a “cloud gaming revelation” and was blown away by how sharp and smooth the experience was.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/geforce-now-adds-support-for-flight-controllers-171047006.html?src=rss
Remedy Defends Tim Sweeney: ‘There Would Be No Alan Wake 2 Without Epic’
Tim Sweeney is preaching the virtues of competition while its partners are struggling
The post Remedy Defends Tim Sweeney: ‘There Would Be No <em>Alan Wake 2</em> Without Epic’ appeared first on Kotaku.
Intel Xeon 6780E “Sierra Forest” Linux Performance ~14% Faster Since Launch
As part of my end-of-year 2025 benchmarking I looked at how the Intel Xeon 6980P Granite Rapids performance evolved in the year since launch and seeing some nice open-source/Linux optimizations during that time. On the other side of the table were also benchmarks of how AMD EPYC 8004 Sienna evolved in its two years, Ubuntu 24.04 vs. 26.04 development for AMD EPYC Turin, the AMD EPYC Milan-X in its four years since launch, and also a look at the performance evolution lower down the stack with the likes of sub-$500 laptop hardware. Out today is a fresh look at how the Intel Xeon 6780E Sierra Forest has evolved in its one and a half years since its launch.
Forbidden ditches high-pivot for first titanium hardtails – meet the Puritan ATB and Heathen hardtail
Forbidden has unveiled the Puritan and the Heathen, two titanium-framed hardtails with different purposes.
The mountain bikes are the first from the brand not to feature the iconic idler and high-pivot layout, as well as its first bikes made from metal rather than carbon.
While the Heathen fits the trail hardtail category, the Puritan is harder to box, with Forbidden calling it an ATB – all-terrain bike.
The bikes are a part of a limited run, with Forbidden saying they are “designed to be ridden hard and kept for a lifetime”.
The brand’s ONERIDE proportional sizing is carried over, meaning ride feel, handling characteristics and weight distribution should remain consistent across all frame sizes.
All-terrain bike
Forbidden says the Puritan is built for long hauls and takes 700c wheels with clearance for 50mm tyres – not dissimilar to modern gravel bikes.
While you can run it with a drop bar, the brand says it is purpose-built to run a flat bar and a 60mm stem.
Running a drop bar is said to stretch out the rider triangle, which the brand is unapologetic about.
It has accessory mounts on the top tube and down tube for bikepacking duties, and room for two 750ml+ bottles for long days in the saddle.
There’s external cable routing, making maintenance easy, and a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, which should help with longevity compared to press-fit options.
The Puritan comes in fours sizes, ranging from S1 to S4, and is priced at £3,299 / $4,199 / €3,999 / CAD$4,599 for the frame kit.
This includes a 50mm RockShox Rudy XL fork and Cane Creek headset.
Super-slack hardtail
The Heathen is an aggressive hardtail designed around a 130mm fork, which has a slack 64-degree head angle.
Forbidden says it has designed it to be cherished or neglected, alluding to its durability and strong looks.
Like the Puritan, it comes in four sizes, with the smaller S1 and S2 featuring an MX-wheel setup, while the S3 and S4 are full-29in.
The brand acknowledges that the slack head angle might raise eyebrows for a short-travel bike, saying, “It’s deliberate”.
“A shorter fork keeps the geometry consistent under compression. Meaning the Heathen remains composed when it matters most,” Forbidden explains.
The bike also features external cable routing and a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, but is limited to one 750ml+ bottle.
There are accessory mounts under the top tube for keeping tools and essentials.
The Heathen is priced at £2,599 / $3,399 / €3,199 / CAD$3,599.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU will arrive on January 29 and cost $499
At CES earlier this month, AMD announced the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a more wallet-friendly take on its $700 9950X3D. The company promised the new chip would be out sometime in the first three months of the year, and it’s going to arrive a bit sooner than you might have expected. It can be all yours on January 29 for $499.
AMD says the 9850X3D builds on the 9800X3D with an 400MHz upgrade to the boost clock. It can reach boost speeds of 5.6GHz. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an 8-core CPU with 16 threads and 104MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. AMD is employing its 3D V-cache tech so it can vertically stack more cache memory onto the chip.
The 9850X3D also has a 120W TDP. AMD claims the CPU is able to deliver an average 27 percent faster gaming performance than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285k. We’ll be able to assess that for ourselves very soon given that the 9850X3D will hit shelves in just a few days.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amds-ryzen-7-9850x3d-cpu-will-arrive-on-january-29-and-cost-499-165000446.html?src=rss
007 First Light: Everything We Know About The Hitman Devs’ James Bond Game
I’ll take my information on this new Bond video game shaken, not stirred. Can you do that?
The post <i>007 First Light</i>: Everything We Know About The <i>Hitman</i> Devs’ James Bond Game appeared first on Kotaku.
AMD Reveals Ryzen 7 9850X3D Price And Release Date: What You Need to Know
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which was announced by AMD during (not at) CES 2026, has had a date and price finally set: January 29th, and $499 USD. That’s only a $20 jump over the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s MSRP, although those parts have been available as cheap as $430 in the past. The new model brings a 400 MHz bump in peak boost clocks and absolutely no
Autodesk To Cut 1,000 Jobs
Autodesk said today it plans to cut approximately 1,000 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce, as part of what the company described as the final phase of a global restructuring effort aimed at strengthening its sales and marketing operations.
The maker of AutoCAD and other digital design software said a significant portion of the cuts will fall within customer-facing sales functions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Anker Goes Full Liquidation on Docking Stations, Its 14-Port 160W Dock Crashes to an All-Time Low
It’s time to say goodbye to the cord clutter at your workstation.
The post Anker Goes Full Liquidation on Docking Stations, Its 14-Port 160W Dock Crashes to an All-Time Low appeared first on Kotaku.
Google adds your Gmail and Photos to AI Mode to enable “Personal Intelligence”
Google believes AI is the future of search, and it’s not shy about saying it. After adding account-level personalization to Gemini earlier this month, it’s now updating AI Mode with so-called “Personal Intelligence.” According to Google, this makes the bot’s answers more useful because they are tailored to your personal context.
Starting today, the feature is rolling out to all users who subscribe to Google AI Pro or AI Ultra. However, it will be a Labs feature that needs to be explicitly enabled (subscribers will be prompted to do this). Google tends to expand access to new AI features to free accounts later on, so free users will most likely get access to Personal Intelligence in the future. Whenever this option does land on your account, it’s entirely optional and can be disabled at any time.
If you decide to integrate your data with AI Mode, the search bot will be able to scan your Gmail and Google Photos. That’s less extensive than the Gemini app version, which supports Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube history. Gmail will probably be the biggest contributor to AI Mode—a great many life events involve confirmation emails. Traditional search results when you are logged in are adjusted based on your usage history, but this goes a step further.
Netflix scores Oscar nominations for Frankenstein and KPop Demon Hunters
The nominees for the 2026 Academy Awards were just announced and Ryan Coogler’s vampire-adjacent period drama Sinners received a record-breaking 16 nominations. That’s the highest number of Oscar nominations for a single film in the history of the awards, followed by Titanic, La La Land and All About Eve with 14 noms each.
Sinners grabbed a nomination in nearly every major category, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The same goes for the performances, as Michael B. Jordan captured the nomination for Best Actor. Even Delroy Lindo got nominated for Best Supporting Actor, which is his very first Oscar nomination after 50 years in the business.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another walked away with 13 nominations and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia scored four. Apple’s F1 actually got nominated for Best Picture, which is unusual for a popcorn-style blockbuster. Netflix scored Best Picture noms for both Frankenstein and Train Dreams.
Netflix also got its flowers for the international animated sensation KPop Demon Hunters. It got nominated for Best Animated Feature and, of course, Best Original Song.
The 98th annual Academy Awards will take place on March 15, with Conan O’Brien returning to host. It’ll be broadcast live on ABC. The awards ceremony will be moving to YouTube in 2029.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflix-scores-oscar-nominations-for-frankenstein-and-kpop-demon-hunters-163521141.html?src=rss