Month: February 2026

Logitech’s new Superstrike is a faster, more customizable gaming mouse

Enthusiast gaming keyboard tech has made the jump to gaming mice – well, to one gaming mouse so far. The $179.99 Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike...

I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being

I can still hear it whining and whirring. | Photo by Robert Hart / The Verge After a few weeks living with Casio’s AI-powered pet, Moflin,...

NASA Let AI Drive the Perseverance Rover

In December, NASA took another small, incremental step towards autonomous surface rovers. In a demonstration, the Perseverance team used AI to generate the rover’s waypoints. Perseverance...

Ian Jackson: Adopting tag2upload and modernising your Debian packaging

Introduction tag2upload allows authorised Debian contributors to upload to Debian simply by pushing a signed git tag to Debian’s gitlab instance, Salsa. We have recently announced...

AI can’t make good video game worlds yet, and it might never be able to

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about video game industry’s pushback against generative...

Why are Epstein’s emails full of equals signs?

Many of the emails released by the Department of Justice from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein are full of garbled symbols like: Or: The scrambled text...

Nobody Can Complain When you Fart, If It’s For Science!

There are some stories that you can tell a writer has enjoyed composing, and, likely, whoever wrote the piece for Medical Express reporting on new smart...

The Best Samsung Phones of 2026, Tested and Reviewed

From flagship and budget to flipping and folding, Samsung’s Galaxy range spans the breadth of the smartphone cosmos. WIRED’s here to help you make your choice.

The Nothing That Has the Potential to Be Anything

You can never truly empty a box. Why? Zero-point energy.

Linux Kernel Improvement Can Make Hibernation Several Times Faster With Slow SSDs

A patch series sent out for review this weekend can significantly improve the system hibernation performance under Linux. Particularly for those with slower SSDs, the patches...

Mesa’s KosmicKrisp Vulkan-On-Metal Achieves MoltenVK Feature Parity

Announced last year by consulting firm LunarG was KosmicKrisp as a Vulkan-on-Metal driver for efficiently leveraging the Vulkan API on Apple macOS systems as an alternative...

9 Best Windows Laptops (2026): WIRED-Tested Laptops to Buy

Windows laptops have never been so good, and they’re only going to get better as we move through 2026.

Google’s AI Overviews Can Scam You. Here’s How to Stay Safe

Beyond mistakes or nonsense, deliberately bad information being injected into AI search summaries is leading people down potentially harmful paths.

NFS Server Adds Dynamic Thread Pool Sizing In Linux 7.0

The NFS server changes for Linux 7.0 happen to include some nice improvements for this big kernel version number release…

CurrentBody LED Hair Growth Helmet Review: Baby Hairs Abound (2026)

This FDA-cleared red-light helmet helps spur hair growth and is Bluetooth-enabled with a comfortable design. But don’t expect results overnight.

Power Sequencing Driver For PCIe M.2 Connectors Makes It Into Linux 7.0

The power sequencing subsystem updates have been merged for the Linux 7.0 cycle. Typically not an area of the kernel too exciting but one new driver...

AI, Fancy Footwear, and All the Other Gear Powering Olympic Bobsledding

Bobsledders rely a lot on specialized equipment to perform well and stay safe during the “Formula 1 of ice.” Here’s a quick guide.

Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel

In part II of his Emacs series, novelist Theena Kumaragurunathan, demonstrates how Emacs is becoming an extension of his writing brain.

GameCube Dock for Switch, Revisited

While modern game consoles are certainly excellent, there is still something magical about the consoles of yore. So why not bring the magical nostalgia of a...

LocalStack for AWS Drops Community Edition Raising Developer Concerns

LocalStack has recently announced changes to the delivery of its AWS Cloud emulators, dropping the popular open source Community Edition, and creating a single image that...

The WalMart Atomic Clock

In the realm of first-world problems, your cheap wall clock doesn’t keep time, so you have to keep setting it. The answer? Of course, you connect...

Real-Time 3D Room Mapping with ESP32, VL53L5CX Sensor and IMU

ST’s VL53L5CX is a very small 8×8 grid ranging sensor that can perform distance measurements at a distance of up to 4 meters. In a recent...

Linux Mint is adding post-install home encryption option

Linux Mint 23 will expand its System Administration tool (mintsysadm) with a new Users section, enabling post-install home encryption and more. You’re reading Linux Mint is...

F2FS Delivers “Several Key Performance Optimizations” With Linux 7.0

The Flash Friendly File-System (F2FS) has multiple performance improvements to provide its users with on the in-development Linux 7.0 kernel…

Reverse Engineering a Dash Robot with Ghidra

One of the joys of browsing secondhand shops is the possibility of finding old, perhaps restorable or hackable, electronics at low prices. Admittedly, they usually seem...

X.Org Server’s “Master” Branch Now Closed With Cleaned Up State On “Main”

This Valentine’s Day there is a lot of red on the screen for the X.Org Server with the code delta as a result of renaming of...

Jikipedia turns Epstein’s emails into an encyclopedia of his powerful friends

Lesley Groff, Epstein’s executive assistant. | Image: Jmail The folks behind Jmail are at it again with a clone of Wikipedia that turns the treasure trove...

NASA has a new problem to fix before the next Artemis II countdown test

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Saturday the agency is looking at ways to prevent the fueling problems plaguing the Space Launch System rocket before the Artemis...

Vintage Canadian Video Hardware Becomes Homebrew Computer

Are you in the mood for a retrocomputing deep dive into the Scriptovision Super Micro Script? It was a Canadian-made vintage video titler from the 80s,...

Vim 9.2 Released With Experimental Wayland Support, Better HiDPI Display Support

Vim 9.2 is out today as the newest feature release for this robust and comprehensive text editor. This Valentine’s Day release for Vim lovers brings experimental...

Steinar H. Gunderson: A286874(15) >= 42

The following 42 15-bit values form a 2-disjunctive matrix (that is, no union of two values contain or equal a third value), or equivalently, a superimposed...

A Valentine’s Day homage to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

It’s Valentine’s Day, and while there are plenty of classic and current rom-coms out there for those wishing to immerse themselves in warm and fuzzy feelings,...

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I’m speaking at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, at 2...

iBuyPower’s gaming desktops are discounted for Presidents Day

Buying a pre-assembled gaming desktop makes sense for some. It can save you time and money, too, compared to buying PC components piecemeal. If you’re weighing...

Linux 7.0 Merges Support For Rock Band 4 PS4 / PS5 Guitars Plus More Laptop Quirks

The HID subsystem changes were merged this week for the ongoing Linux 7.0 kernel merge window. Among the Human Interface Devices (HID) work this cycle were...

Georgia Tech announced the finalists in its wild musical instrument competition

There’s a playable henge of fiddles. | Image: Georgia Tech / The Verge Georgia Tech has announced the finalists in its annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition....

Vim 9.2 released

Version 9.2 of the Vim text editor has been released. “Vim 9.2 brings significant enhancements to the Vim9 scripting language, improved diff mode, comprehensive completion features,...

HackerOS is what a Linux enthusiast’s OS should be

There are over 1,000 Linux distributions on the market. Throw a rock into the tech pond, and I guarantee that you’ll hit a Linux distribution. They...

Honor Thy Error

Musician Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies are like a Tarot card deck full of whimsical ideas meant to break up a creative-block situation, particularly in the recording...

Arcjet reaches v1.0, promises stable security for JavaScript apps

Arcjet this week released v1.0 of its JavaScript SDK, moving it from beta to a stable, production-ready API. Arcjet’s security platform ships with an organization’s code...

My uncanny AI valentines

Phoebe Callas, 30, is not real, but she was an AI companion I went on a speed date with. Hopping over a pile of dirty snow,...

A powerful tool of resistance is already in your hands

In an eyewitness video analyzed frame by frame by The New York Times, Alex Pretti raises one hand and holds a phone in the other. Federal...

The Pocket Taco is the best way to turn your phone into a Game Boy

My ongoing quest to turn my iPhone into one of my favorite consoles of all time has led me to a curiously named controller. GameSir’s Pocket...

Intel Ends Work On Quantum Compiler Open-Source Bits

Following Intel recently discontinuing a number of open-source projects, this week they formally discontinued their Quantum Passes open-source project that was intended to provide additional passes...

Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle  Auto Sensor Economics

MicroVision, a solid-state sensor technology company located in Redmond, Wash., says it has designed a solid-state automotive lidar sensor intended to reach production pricing below US...

Anker’s USB-C cable that lets you charge two gadgets at once is 20 percent off

Monday, February 16th, is Presidents Day, and there are plenty of good deals happening on tech in the run-up to the holiday. Even if you don’t...

Returning stolen artifacts becomes a thrilling heist in Relooted

Colonialism is not merely about occupying nations. It’s a project of mass violence, part of which involves total erasure and the widespread theft of some of...

Best Apple Watch (2026): Series 11, SE 3, and Ultra 3

Should you splurge on the new Series 11, or will the SE 3 do? Let us help you figure out which version to get (and which...

Ring’s Flock breakup doesn’t fix its real problem

The most striking thing about Ring’s statement that it had parted ways with Flock Safety is what the home security company didn’t say. There was no...

How to un-Big Tech your online life

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 116, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy National Ferris...

Bits from Debian: DebConf 26 Registration and Call for Proposals are open

Registration and the Call for Proposals for DebConf 26 are now open. The 27th edition of the Debian annual conference will be held from July 20th...

GNOME OS To Use systemd-confext, RustConn Provides Modern GTK4 Connection Manager

In addition to this week’s GNOME 50 beta release, there were also other exciting developments in the GNOME ecosystem…

There’s Always Room for 3D Printed Batteries

There are many applications where you have limits on how much you can cram into a particular space. There are also many applications where you need...

How to Choose the Right Gaming Laptop (2026): What You Need to Know

With over a decade of experience in reviewing gaming laptops, here’s my rundown of what to consider before pulling the trigger.

Sixteen Claude Agents Built a C Compiler Without Human Intervention… Almost

In an effort to probe the limits of autonomous software development Anthropic used sixteen Claude Opus 4.6 AI agents to build a Rust-based C compiler from...

Linux 7.0 Wires Up Arm’s 64-byte Single-Copy Atomic Instructions LS64/LS64V

Beyond all of the exciting Intel/AMD x86_64 changes and improvements to enjoy with the upcoming Linux 7.0, there is one notable ARM64 feature addition this kernel...

Astronomers are filling in the blanks of the Kuiper Belt

Out beyond the orbit of Neptune lies an expansive ring of ancient relics, dynamical enigmas, and possibly a hidden planet—or two. The Kuiper Belt, a region...

From Paging to Postmortem: Google Cloud SREs on Using Gemini CLI for Outage Response

A recent article by Google Cloud SREs describes how they use the AI-powered Gemini CLI internally to resolve real-world outages. This approach improves reliability in critical...

Best Alternatives to Google’s Android Operating System (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Whether you have privacy concerns or you just want to freely tinker, these are our favorite alternatives to stock Android.

Ring Kills Flock Safety Deal After Super Bowl Ad Uproar

Plus: Meta plans to add face recognition to its smart glasses, Jared Kushner named as part of whistleblower’s mysterious national security complaint, and more.

Linux 7.0 Lands 8D-8D-8D Octal DTR Support In SPI NAND For Better Performance

The Linux Memory Technology Device (MTD) subsystem updates have been merged for the Linux 7.0 kernel and include introducing Octal DTR “8D-8D-8D” support in SPI NAND...

Firmware Upstreamed For Linux Speaker Support On The ASUS Zenbook 14 UM3406GA

For those that may be considering the new ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3406GA) laptop that has been refreshed for the new AMD Ryzen AI 400 series,...

Here’s What It’s Like to Use H&R Block’s DIY Tax Service (2026)

Filing taxes is a pain. Here’s how H&R Block DIY performed against other services I tested.

Gear News of the Week: Samsung Sets a Date for Galaxy Unpacked, and Fitbit’s AI Coach Comes to iOS

Plus: iOS 26.3 makes it easy to switch to Android, Google cancels the Android 17 beta, and YouTube debuts on the Apple Vision Pro.

Lola Blankets Are 45 Percent Off This Presidents’ Day Weekend

From February 14 to 16, these ultra-plush blankets and throws are nearly half off. No exclusions.

Firestore Adds Pipeline Operations with Over 100 New Query Features

Google has overhauled Firestore’s query engine, introducing “Pipeline operations” that enable complex server-side aggregations and array unnesting. The update shifts Firestore Enterprise toward an optional indexing...

Robot Dogs Are on Going on Patrol at the 2026 World Cup in Mexico

The Mexican city of Guadalupe, which will host portions of the 2026 World Cup, recently showed off four new robot dogs that will help provide security...

Building the Most Simple Motor in Mostly LEGO

Although [Jamie’s Brick Jams] has made many far more complicated motor design in the past, it’s nice to go back to the basics and make a...

Nuxt Studio Released: Open Source CMS for Content Editing in Production

Introducing Nuxt Studio: the ultimate open-source content management solution for Nuxt websites, offering a powerful self-hosted module for complete control over your content. With an intuitive...

The Companion: A Web UI for Claude Code CLI

Run Claude Code in your browser with The Companion. Multiple sessions, visual tool tracking, and persistent context. No extra API key needed. The post The Companion:...

The DJI Romo robovac had security so poor, this man remotely accessed thousands of them

The DJI Romo robot vacuum in its translucent dock. | Image: DJI Sammy Azdoufal claims he wasn’t trying to hack every robot vacuum in the world....

DJI’s first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can’t trust

It’s been eight years since I last reviewed a robot vacuum. Having spent the last two months with a new flagship, I’m shocked by how much...

Rock Sphere Machine Produces Off the Charts Satisfaction

[Michigan Rocks] says he avoided making rock spheres for a long time on account of the time and cost he imagined was involved. Well, all that...

Sony Promo Codes and Discounts: 45% Off

Upgrade your setup with Sony’s newest releases. Save on industry-leading noise-canceling audio, and pro-level Alpha cameras.

Crontab Cheatsheet

Cron Format # Use five time fields followed by the command. Format Description * * * * * command min hour day month weekday command *...

Why Diamond Transistors Are So Hard To Make

Many things about diamonds seem eternal, including the many engineering problems related to making them work as a silicon replacement in semiconductor technology. Yet much like...

KDE Plasma 6.6 Sees Last Minute Fixes, Plasma 6.7 Aims For Painless Samba Shares

KDE’s Plasma 6.6 desktop release is due out next week (17 February) and there’s been some last minute fixes to land. Additionally, KDE Plasma developers continue...

Godot 4.7 Making Progress On Vulkan Ray-Tracing

One of the latest exciting developments for the open-source Godot game engine is beginning to lay out support for Vulkan ray-tracing…

R2D2 Gets New Brains

While it is fun to get toys that look like your favorite science fiction props, it is less fun when the electronics in them don’t measure...

WHO slams US-funded newborn vaccine trial as “unethical”

The World Health Organization on Friday released a formal statement blasting a US-funded vaccine trial as “unethical,” because it would withhold an established, safe, and potentially...

Aided by AI, California beach town broadens hunt for bike lane blockers

This spring, a Southern California beach town will become the first city in the country where municipal parking enforcement vehicles will use an AI system looking...

Wget Cheatsheet

Basic Downloads # Download files to the current directory. Command Description wget URL Download a file wget -q URL Download silently (no output) wget -nv URL...

Verizon imposes new roadblock on users trying to unlock paid-off phones

Verizon this week imposed a new roadblock for people who want to pay off device installment plans early in order to get their phones unlocked. The...

Friday Squid Blogging: Do Squid Dream?

An exploration of the interesting question.

OpenAI Is Nuking Its 4o Model. China’s ChatGPT Fans Aren’t OK

As OpenAI removed access to GPT-4o in its app on Friday, people who have come to rely on the chatbot for companionship are mourning the loss...

Ring cancels Flock deal after dystopian Super Bowl ad prompts mass outrage

Amazon and Flock Safety have ended a partnership that would’ve given law enforcement access to a vast web of Ring cameras. The decision came after Amazon...

GNOME 50 Beta Released With Stable VRR, GDM Improvements

The GNOME 50 beta release is now available ahead of the official GNOME 50 desktop due out in March…

Inside Raiders of the Lost Ark (Atari Style)

It’s a bit ironic that an Atari 2600 game based on Raiders of the Lost Ark — a movie about archaeology — is now the subject...

Han shot first

Our ol’ friend, Brett Cannon, is back to talk all things Python. But first! Star Wars, Machete Order, Lost, Babylon 5, Game of Thrones, Murderbot, Ted...

The first Android 17 beta is now available on Pixel devices

You might have noticed some reporting a few days ago that Android 17 was rolling out in beta form, but that didn’t happen. For reasons Google...

Social Security Workers Are Being Told to Hand Over Appointment Details to ICE

The recent request goes against decades of precedent and puts noncitizens at further risk of immigration enforcement actions.

NVIDIA Posts Open-Source Nouveau GSP Driver Support For GA100

One of the latest NVIDIA open-source contributions this week wasn’t for the in-development Nova kernel driver but for enhancing the existing Nouveau kernel driver. The patch...

Senators Urge Top Regulator to Stay Out of Prediction Market Lawsuits

As prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi battle regulators in court, Senate Democrats are urging the CFTC to avoid weighing in, escalating a broader fight...

Join Our Livestream: The Hype, Reality, and Future of EVs

Pose your questions to a panel of WIRED experts about the future of the electric vehicle industry.

TryEngineering Marks 20 Years of Getting Kids Interested in STEM

IEEE TryEngineering is celebrating 20 years of empowering educators with resources that introduce engineering to students at an early age. Launched in 2006 as a collaboration...

20 Best Presidents’ Day Deals on Gear Our Reviewers Actually Used (2026)

Shop these limited-time sales to save on some of our favorite gadgets from Branch, Eufy, and more.

Multi-Lane SPI Support Merged For Linux 7.0

With the Serial Peripheral Interface “SPI” subsystem updates for the Linux 7.0 kernel comes support for multi-lane SPI…

Record Low Snow in the West Will Mean Less Water, More Fire, and Political Chaos

Snowpack levels across a wide swath of western US states are among the lowest seen in decades, even as regulators struggle to negotiate water rights in...

The ‘Heated Rivalry’ Fandom Is Tearing Itself Apart

The breakout hockey romance has sparked legions of enthralled fans, along with obsessive, parasocial behavior that’s starting to get called out.

These Open Earbuds Are Just Over $20

Don’t be fooled by a slowly dropping price tag, the Acefit are surprisingly capable.

2026.07: Aggregators and AI

Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery! As a reminder, each week, every Friday, we’re sending out this overview of content in the Stratechery bundle; highlighted...

$1.8 million MST3K Kickstarter brings in (almost) everyone from the old show

Longtime fans of the cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that the series’ one constant is change (well, that and bad movies). The show’s...

The foundations of software: open source libraries and their maintainers

Open source libraries are repositories of code that developers can use and, depending on the license, contribute to, modify, and redistribute. Open source libraries are usually...

Tiny, 45 base long RNA can make copies of itself

There are plenty of unanswered questions about the origin of life on Earth. But the research community has largely reached consensus that one of the key...

ALS stole this musician’s voice. AI let him sing again.

There are tears in the audience as Patrick Darling’s song begins to play. It’s a heartfelt song written for his great-grandfather, whom he never got the...

Video Friday: Robot Collective Stays Alive Even When Parts Die

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming...

Linux 7.0 Lands ML-DSA Quantum-Resistant Signature Support

Adding to the exciting features for the big Linux 7.0 kernel release is support for the Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm “ML-DSA” quantum-resistant signature algorithm…

How to Build a Production-Grade Distributed Chatroom in Go [Full Handbook]

If you’ve ever wondered how chat applications like Slack, Discord, or WhatsApp work behind the scenes, this tutorial will show you. You’ll build a real-time chat...

Zillow Has Gone Wild—for AI

As the housing market stalls, Zillow’s CEO sees AI as “an ingredient rather than a threat” that can both help the company protect its turf and...

Built for momentum: Tailscale Winter Update Week

It’s Winter Update Week: five days of shipping, sharing, and showing where secure connectivity is headed next.

Presentation: Building Embedding Models for Large-Scale Real-World Applications

Sahil Dua discusses the critical role of embedding models in powering search and RAG applications at scale. He explains the transformer-based architecture, contrastive learning techniques, and...

Are the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics Beginning To Dissolve?

N one of the leading interpretations of quantum theory are very convincing. They ask us to believe, for example, that the world we experience is fundamentally...

Fragments: February 13

I’ve been busy traveling this week, visiting some clients in the Bay Area and attending The Pragmatic Summit. So I’ve not has as much time as...

Bliki: Future Of Software Development

In Februrary 2026, Thoughtworks hosted a workshop called “The Future of Software Development” in Deer Valley Utah. While it was held in the mountains of Utah...

New delegation for Debian’s data protection team

Debian Project Leader (DPL) Andreas Tille has announced a new delegation for Debian’s data protection team: Following the end of the previous delegation, Debian was left...

[$] The first half of the 7.0 merge window

The merge window for Linux 7.0 has opened, and with it comes a number of interesting improvements and enhancements. At the time of writing, there have...

What if riders don’t close a robotaxi door after a ride? Try DoorDash.

Autonomous vehicles have a lot of potential. As long as you program them right, they won’t speed, won’t break traffic laws, and won’t get drunk, high,...

What’s !important #5: Lazy-loading iframes, Repeating corner-shape Backgrounds, and More

This issue of What’s !important is dedicated to our friends in the UK (aka me), who are currently experiencing a very miserable 43-day rain streak. Presenting:...

Why is Bezos trolling Musk on X with turtle pics? Because he has a new Moon plan.

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, does not often post on the social media site owned by his rival Elon Musk. But on Monday, Bezos did, sharing...

[$] Open-source mapping for disaster response

At FOSDEM 2026 Petya Kangalova, a senior tech partnership and engagement manager for the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) spoke about how the project helps people map...

Evaluating The Performance Cost To AMD SEV-SNP On EPYC 9005 VMs

AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization with Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP) provides memory encryption and integrity protections that can be especially useful in modern cloud computing. Typically a...

Building Digital Trust: An Empathy-Centred UX Framework For Mental Health Apps

Imagine a user opening a mental health app while feeling overwhelmed with anxiety. The very first thing they encounter is a screen with a bright, clashing...

I spent two days gigging at RentAHuman and didn’t make a single cent

I’m not above doing some gig work to make ends meet. In my life, I’ve worked snack food pop-ups in a grocery store, ran the cash...

Security updates for Friday

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (firefox, gcc-toolset-14-binutils, nodejs:20, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, php:7.4, and python3.12), Debian (haproxy, nginx, postgresql-15, and postgresql-17), Fedora (libssh), Oracle (glib2, libsoup,...

GitHub’s Agentic Workflows bring “continuous AI” into the CI/CD loop

A lot of the hype around agents has been around writing code, but what if you could have an agent watch for events in your GitHub...

Why 40% of AI projects will be canceled by 2027 (and how to stay in the other 60%)

The agentic AI race is on, and most organizations are at risk of losing it. Not because they lack ambition, but because they’re fighting three wars...

Shedding old code with ecdysis: graceful restarts for Rust services at Cloudflare

ecdysis | ˈekdəsəs | noun the process of shedding the old skin (in reptiles) or casting off the outer cuticle (in insects and other arthropods). How...

Linux Gets Rid Of Intel 440BX EDAC Driver For Old Pentium CPUs After Being Broken For 19+ Years

As some long overdue housekeeping, the Linux 7.0 kernel has removed an Error Detection And Correction “EDAC” driver for the Intel 440BX and 440GX chipset. The...

The Download: an exclusive chat with Jim O’Neill, and the surprising truth about heists

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. US deputy health secretary:...

Sheaves Ready To Play A Bigger Role In Linux 7.0

The slab memory allocator feature updates have been merged for the Linux 7.0 kernel. Most notable this cycle is expanded use of the recently-introduced Sheaves functionality…

How to ground AI agents in accurate, context-rich data

AI agents are all the rage in enterprises today. CEOs and CTOs want them brought into their businesses ASAP to perform a wide range of tasks...

Are Waterproof Sneakers Worth It? (2026)

The idea of having warm, dry feet on your wet, snowy run is appealing. But you might not like the trade-offs.

HP’s laptop subscriptions are a great deal — for HP

Nice laptop. It’d be a shame if someone were to, say, lock you into some convoluted terms and conditions for it. | Photo: Antonio G. Di...

The hottest indie game is about breeding cats with ADHD and dyslexia

When the Mewgenics team announced in 2024 that it had added autism to the list of disorders the game’s cats could inherit, developer Edmund McMillen –...

Best Apple 3-in-1 Wireless Travel Chargers (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Keep your trio of Apple gadgets fully charged wherever you are with these compact folding travel chargers.

Why maintaining a codebase is so damn hard – with OhMyZSH creator Robby Russell [Podcast #207]

Today Quincy Larson interviews Robby Russell. Robby created the open-source project Oh My ZSH. Oh My Zsh is a framework for managing your Zsh configuration for...

Rocket Report: Say cheerio to Orbex; China is getting good at booster landings

Welcome to Edition 8.29 of the Rocket Report! We have a stuffed report this week with news from across the launch spectrum. Long-term, probably the most...

Platforms bend over backward to help DHS censor ICE critics, advocates say

Pressure is mounting on tech companies to shield users from unlawful government requests that advocates say are making it harder to reliably share information about Immigration...

3D Printing Pneumatic Channels With Dual Materials for Soft Robots

Pneumatics are a common way to add some motion to soft robotic actuators, but adding it to a robot can be somewhat of a chore. A...

LGBTQ+ Athletes Are Front and Center at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games

Nearly 50 out LGBTQ+ Olympians are participating in events throughout the Winter Games—even as their rights to speak and compete are under attack.

Elehear Delight Hearing Aids Review: Good Fit, Poor Sound

These new in-the-ear aids look great, but quality hearing support just isn’t there.

How Ilia Malinin Revolutionized Figure Skating with His Quadruple Axel

On Friday, the US Olympic skater known as the “Quad God” will compete in his last event of the 2026 Winter Games. Everyone will be watching...

Teleport Launches Agentic Identity Framework to Secure AI Agents Across Enterprise Infrastructure

Teleport recently unveiled the Teleport Agentic Identity Framework, a new AI-centered security model designed to help enterprises safely deploy autonomous and semi-autonomous AI agents across cloud...

The Real Python Podcast – Episode #284: Running Local LLMs With Ollama and Connecting With Python

Would you like to learn how to work with LLMs locally on your own computer? How do you integrate your Python projects with a local model?...

20 Best Couches We’ve Tested That You Can Buy Online (2026)

Refresh your space with a sofa that arrives right at your doorstep. We’ve spent years in search of the best couches—read about all the styles we’ve...

Inside the New York City Date Night for AI Lovers

EVA AI created a pop-up romantic date night at a Manhattan wine bar to help making AI-human relationships a “new normal.”

How to Fix Flatpak “No Such Ref in Remote Flathub” Error in Linux

Fix “No such ref in remote flathub” errors instantly. Clear cached refs, run repair, clean flatpak packages. Works on all Linux versions. The post How to...

Intel Nova Lake Sound Support In Linux 7.0

Merged for the Linux 6.19 kernel was initial Nova Lake S audio support. Now merged this week for the Linux 7.0 kernel is enabling sound support...

The myth of the high-tech heist

Making a movie is a lot like pulling off a heist. That’s what Steven Soderbergh—director of the Ocean’s franchise, among other heist-y classics—said a few years...

Here’s Why I’d Buy the Last Samsung Soundbar First

Going one or two generations back in Samsung’s Q990 soundbar series is the smartest way to get insane home theater sound.

Libinput 1.31 Released With Configurable Timeouts, Fast 3-Finger Swipes

Red Hat’s leading input expert Peter Hutterer announced the release overnight of libinput 1.31, the input handling library used by the Linux desktop on both X.Org...

The Best Mattress Toppers (2026): Supportive, Plush, Memory Foam

These toppers will transform your mattress into exactly what you need, whether that’s a super-plush pillow top, memory foam, or targeted back support.

US deputy health secretary: Vaccine guidelines are still subject to change

Over the past year, Jim O’Neill has become one of the most powerful people in public health. As the US deputy health secretary, he holds two...

A Few More ASUS Motherboards Now Support Sensor Reporting With Linux 7.0

All of the hardware monitoring “HWMON” subsystem updates have been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.0 merge window…

Erich Schubert: Dogfood Generative AI

Current AI companies ignore licenses such as the GPL, and often train on anything they can scrape. This is not acceptable. The AI companies ignore web...

Haiku OS Lands Improved Touchpad Support, Still Working Toward Beta 6

The Haiku open-source operating system project inspired by BeOS kicked off 2026 by making many improvements to its kernel, device drivers, and user-space software…

RFK Jr. follows a carnivore diet. That doesn’t mean you should.

Americans have a new set of diet guidelines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken an old-fashioned food pyramid, turned it upside down, and plonked a steak...

From inspiration to impact: design students from Regent’s University London explore open design for their dissertation projects

Last year, we had the opportunity to speak at Regent’s UX Conference (Regent’s University London’s conference to showcase UX work by staff, students, and alumni), where...

Session's Co-Founder Thinks You Don't Need to Ditch WhatsApp Completely

Kee Jefferys on why privacy messaging should be an option, not a replacement.

Restoration of Antique Clock With Unique Oscillator

The classic design of a mechanical clock generally consists of a display, a way to store energy, a way to release that energy at regular intervals,...

Podcast: Beyond Code: How Engineers Need to Evolve in the AI Era

In this podcast, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Ben Greene about embracing AI in software engineering, expanding beyond pure technical skills...

Shadcn Releases Visual Project Builder

Introducing Shadcn’s innovative visual project builder, accessible via `npx shadcn create`. This tool empowers developers to customize project setups visually before coding, ensuring a seamless design-first...

Scaling LLM Post-Training at Netflix

Baolin Li, Lingyi Liu, Binh Tang, Shaojing Li Introduction Pre-training gives Large Language Models (LLMs) broad linguistic ability and general world knowledge, but post-training is the phase...

Tar Cheatsheet

Basic Syntax # Core tar command forms. Command Description tar -cf archive.tar files/ Create archive tar -xf archive.tar Extract archive tar -tf archive.tar List archive contents...

Tenways’ compact e-bike twists and folds to go flat

The CGO Compact’s handlebar twists and the pedals fold to hug a wall or lay flat in a car. | Image: Tenways Tenways just launched its...

Planet News Roundup

This is a roundup of articles from the openSUSE community listed on planet.opensuse.org. The community blog feed aggregator lists the featured highlights below from Feb. 6...

VillageSQL Launches as an Extension-Focused MySQL Fork

A new open-source project, VillageSQL, has been introduced as a tracking fork of MySQL aimed at expanding extensibility and addressing feature gaps increasingly relevant to AI...

Argon ONE UP: Test-Tasting a Raspberry Pi CM5 Based Laptop

The Argon40 ONE UP unsurprisingly looks like a laptop. (Credit: Jeff Geerling) The Raspberry Pi Compute Module form factor is a tantalizing core for a potential...

Bad Map Projection: Zero Declination

Does this Electron Make Me Look Fat? Weighing an Electron

[The Signal Path] shows us how to recreate a classic science experiment to measure the weight of an electron. Things are easier for us, because unlike...

Linux 7.0 MM Changes Bring Some Very Nice Performance Optimizations

All of the memory management “MM” related patches have now been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.0 merge window…

When Amazon badly needed a ride, Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket delivered

The heavy version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket launched for the first time Thursday, hauling 32 spacecraft to low-Earth orbit for Amazon’s satellite broadband constellation. The...

XFS Introducing Autonomous Self-Healing Capabilities With Linux 7.0

The XFS file-system has some interesting new feature work and performance tuning with the Linux 7.0 kernel that will be used by the likes of Fedora...

The reason AI agents shouldn’t touch your source code — and what they should do instead

Dynatrace is experiencing a major moment in its history. It’s expanding from an observability platform what might be described as a new environment, one that offers...

Harmonic Radar Finds Hidden Electronics

For as long as small, hidden radio transmitters have existed, people have wanted a technology to detect them. One of the more effective ways to find...

Chasing the holy grail: Why Red Hat’s Hummingbird project aims for “near zero” CVEs

In the world of enterprise software security, few metrics are as coveted, or as elusive, as “zero CVEs.” Simply put, a zero CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and...

Extend trust across the software supply chain with Red Hat trusted libraries

Modern software development runs on open source, and that’s not hyperbole. Python alone pulls in dozens—sometimes hundreds—of third‑party libraries for even the simplest applications. While public...

PNC’s infrastructure modernization journey with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

For Marcus Dobeck, vice president and head of container orchestration at The PNC Financial Services Group, if the challenge of 2025 could be summarized in a...

Zero CVEs: The symptom of a larger problem

There has been much discussion lately regarding the “Zero CVE” movement. At Red Hat, we welcome this focus, emphasized by our recent announcement of Project Hummingbird...

crates.io: an update to the malicious crate notification policy

The crates.io team will no longer publish a blog post each time a malicious crate is detected or reported. In the vast majority of cases to...

Friday Five — February 13, 2026

Don’t forget to register for Red Hat SummitRegistration is now open for Red Hat Summit—heading to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2026—and this year’s event is shaping up...

A surprise God of War prequel is out on the PS5 right now

To close out its February 2026 State of Play presentation, Sony revealed God of War Sons of Sparta, a new prequel 2D side scroller in the...

The Asus Zenbook S 16 Is $500 Off and Has Never Been This Cheap

The Asus Zenbook S 16 was a favorite of ours last year, but the price was always too high. Now it has dropped to $1,000, and...

Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash

Following intense backlash to its partnership with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company that works with law enforcement agencies, Ring has announced it is canceling the...

Statistical language R is making a comeback against Python

The latest iteration of the TIOBE Index of programming languages indicates that more specialized languages are creeping up on Python’s dominance. Although Python remains the most...

OpenAI sidesteps Nvidia with unusually fast coding model on plate-sized chips

On Thursday, OpenAI released its first production AI model to run on non-Nvidia hardware, deploying the new GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark coding model on chips from Cerebras. The model...

Trump official overruled FDA scientists to reject Moderna’s flu shot

Vinay Prasad, the Trump administration’s top vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration, single-handedly decided to refuse to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine, overruling agency...

Spider-Noir teaser comes in colorized “True Hue” and black and white

Nicolas Cage has carved out a quirky niche for himself in recent years with such films as Color Out of Space (2019), Pig (2021), The Unbearable...

‘Uncanny Valley’: ICE’s Secret Expansion Plans, Palantir Workers’ Ethical Concerns, and AI Assistants

In this episode of Uncanny Valley, our hosts dive into WIRED’s scoop about a secret Trump administration campaign extending right into your backyard.

PlayStation State of Play February 2026: all the news and trailers

Strap in, because the next PlayStation event is going to be a long one. Sony’s latest State of Play — a showcase event for upcoming PS5...

ULA’s Vulcan rocket suffers another booster problem on the way to orbit

Moments after liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast early Thursday morning, a shower of sparks emerged in the exhaust plume of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Seconds...

Intel Posts 2026 Update For Cache Aware Scheduling On Linux

Not in time for the current Linux 7.0 cycle but posted for another round of review is Intel’s latest work around Cache Aware Scheduling for enhancing...

EPA kills foundation of greenhouse gas regulations

In a widely expected move, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is revoking an analysis of greenhouse gases that laid the foundation for regulating...

Storing Image Data As Analog Audio

Ham radio operators may be familiar with slow-scan television (SSTV) where an image is sent out over the airwaves to be received, decoded, and displayed on...

EXT4 In Linux 7.0 Improves Write Performance For Concurrent Direct I/O Writes

Sent out and already merged today for the Linux 7.0 kernel are the EXT4 file-system updates…

Trump FTC wants Apple News to promote more Fox News and Breitbart stories

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson has accused Apple of violating US law by suppressing conservative-leaning news outlets on Apple News. Ferguson pointed to research by...

The programming language after Kotlin – with the creator of Kotlin

Stream the latest episode Listen and watch now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. See the episode transcript at the top of this page, and timestamps for...

DIY PC maker Framework has needed monthly price hikes to navigate the RAM shortage

AI-driven memory and storage price hikes have been the defining feature of the PC industry in 2026, and hobbyists have been hit the hardest—companies like Apple...

Waymo Asks the DC Public to Pressure Their City Officials

Stuck in regulatory limbo, the self-driving-vehicle developer is encouraging residents of Washington, DC, to message public officials to help get its robotaxis onto roads.

Your RAG System is probably image-blind, but it doesn’t have to be

In the race to deploy generative AI, most enterprises have mastered “text RAG” to chat with PDFs and spreadsheets. However, enterprise data is rarely just text....