Decade-old RAM is making a comeback
CPU makers have noticed that the seemingly unending RAM price hikes are making it tough for a lot of us to upgrade our PCs. Their solution? A return to last-gen DDR4 RAM. Intel and AMD are making new CPUs that'll support the older, more affordable type of memory.
On Friday, Gigabyte announced that two of its motherboard lines will support "upcoming" processors built on Intel's LGA 1700 socket. That socket debuted in 2021 with the 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs and supported both DDR4 RAM and the then-new DDR5 RAM. Intel dropped it for a DDR5-only approach in 2024. But according to Gigabyte, the dual format support is now being revived, with new …
Anthropic’s AI gave Philadelphia police a fake tip about an unsolved homicide
An Anthropic AI model provided false information about an unsolved homicide to a Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) tipline, according to a report from 6abc. In a statement released on Friday, the PPD said the AI model sent the tip through PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com on July 18th, but the investigators never reviewed it because it was marked as spam.
Anthropic learned its AI model sent the false tip on September 28th and notified the PPD on October 7th. The company said that during testing, its AI model was interacting with "randomly selected websites" and submitted false information through the PPD's tipline, according to the PPD's stateme …
Ohio blogger found guilty of harassment for sending Shrek nude to senator
A jury found an Ohio political blogger guilty of telecommunications harassment after he sent an explicit image of Shrek to a Republican state senator. On Friday, a judge ordered DJ Byrnes, owner of political commentary blog The Rooster, to pay a $200 fine, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch.
Byrnes texted Ohio Sen. Jerry Cirino in May after he dropped out of the state's Senate presidential race. As reported by the Columbus Dispatch, Byrnes sent a nude image of Shrek alongside the message: "Good to see you finally made your humiliation public, Young Mussolini! THE PATRIOTS CAUCUS sends its regards!!!!!!!!!!"
Cirino filed a pol …
‘Pure insanity’: Mathematicians will need years to make sense of OpenAI’s latest drop
"Staggering." "Overwhelming." "Unprecedented." "Surreal." "Pure insanity."
Those were among the descriptions more than three dozen mathematicians reached for in conversations with The Verge as they tried to make sense of the flood of mathematical results OpenAI abruptly dropped on the field this week. Amid the awe, excitement, and uncertainty over the sheer scale of the deluge was a deep-seated anxiety over what it all means - and what comes next. For all their different reactions, researchers agreed that simply understanding what OpenAI had released could take years, let alone figuring out where the mathematicians themselves fit in the fi …
Brendan Carr says he’ll let Pete Hegseth decide whether TV networks can air the public execution
FCC chairman Brendan Carr said he will defer to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on whether TV networks can air the planned execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad.
The Pentagon has said the execution will be livestreamed, suggesting it'll appear on an online platform beyond the FCC's jurisdiction. But it's common for broadcast TV networks to air live video of government events, and Carr's agency does have a say over what happens on public airwaves.
"My understanding is it's not on broadcast TV, so I don't think there's a role for the FCC one way or the other," Carr said in a CNBC interview today. "But I trust …
Nikon microscopic video competition winner disqualified for using generative AI
Nikon says the video that originally won first place in its Small World in Motion contest "did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI." BBC reports that the original first place video from Dr. Ning Xu claimed to show "tiny, hair-like structures called cilia moving in the airway of a child with the respiratory condition PCD." Nikon said last week that it was reviewing the video following skepticism online about its authenticity.
In a comment on LinkedIn, Dr. Xu admitted to using AI for the video: "An unsupervised neural-network method was subsequently used for AI-assisted post-processing to distinguish and visualize f …
Google teases Fitbit Edge launch next week
It looks like Google is getting ready to take the wraps off its rumored Fitbit Edge next Monday. In a post on X, Google posted a picture of what appears to be the side of the fitness tracker, with the caption: "Get an Edge on your health. 10.12.26."
A trove of Fitbit Edge leaks has surfaced over the past couple of weeks. So far, details shared by Dealabs and Android Headlines suggest that the upcoming device could feature a 1.34-inch always-on OLED touchscreen, built-in GPS, and several other sensors, including an accelerometer, barometer, altimeter, and gyroscope. It may also come with optical sensors for measuring heart rate and blood oxy …
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is down to $950 after Prime Day
Amazon has the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra in black with 256GB of storage discounted to $949.99, a healthy discount from its usual price of $1,399.99. This phone’s standout feature is the adjustable privacy display, which can hide your entire screen, or just portions of it, from onlookers and strangers. It doesn’t meaningfully hurt the screen’s performance otherwise, and it’s only noticeable at steep angles, and it includes a built-in stylus for writing or drawing.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Samsung’s 6.9-inch S26 Ultra is the only model in the lineup with the new privacy display, designed to limit what people around you can see on your screen. It also includes the S Pen and upgrades the camera hardware, adding dual telephoto lenses alongside a 200-megapixel main sensor. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Even beyond the privacy display, the S26 Ultra is an impressive flagship phone for mobile enthusiasts. The upgraded camera hardware makes a big difference when it comes to photo quality, particularly in low lighting conditions. For better or worse, it’s still a sizable phone, with a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, but it’s slimmer and more comfortable than the S25 Ultra.
Read our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review.
Amazon’s new Kindles appear to have a light leak problem
Some users are reporting that the new Kindles have a light leak issue that is especially apparent when using dark mode. The latest base-model Kindles have a flush bezel that gives them a sleek appearance and looks great… as long as you keep the lights on. But things can change once you turn down the lights and turn up the brightness on the e-reader.
In some cases, users see shadows around the edges of the screen, or even visible LED strips. The issue appears to affect both the plastic and aluminum models in all colors. Some minor glowing around the edges might be a byproduct of the combination of front lighting and a flush screen. But Reddi …
Microsoft tries to spark new life into Windows
When Microsoft released Windows 11 five years ago, it felt like an operating system that was still being renovated, a work in progress. You'd think by now that those renovations would be complete, with Microsoft turning its attention to Windows 12. Instead, Windows 11 feels like it's here to stay, forming the foundation for Microsoft's next big ambition: transforming Windows into an agentic OS.
At a Windows and Surface event this week, Microsoft laid out its plan to bring AI agents to Windows, including hybrid intelligence that lets Windows take advantage of free local models instead of expensive cloud ones. "I think today is the day we'll …