Brendan Carr’s war on wokeness targets inclusive children’s television
Under the guidance of consummate bully / chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC is taking steps towards cracking down on children's entertainment that in any way explores the complexities of gender identity.
On Wednesday, the FCC's Media Bureau announced that it is soliciting comments from the public about whether the TV ratings system has made sound decisions regarding children's programming with transgender or non-binary characters. In a statement about the commenting period the FCC said that it was soliciting feedback due to an alleged uptick in "significant concerns" about whether "controversial gender identity issues are being included or prom …
Sonos’ big sale on refurbished speakers is about to end
Portable audio and home theater upgrades can be very pricey, which is why we make a habit out of telling readers when there are good deals happening. With that in mind, here’s a friendly reminder that a heap of refurbished Sonos gear is steeply discounted, and will be until the company’s sale ends April 24th.
It’s an opportunity to get refurbished tech that is delivered in like-new condition, all of which are backed by the same one-year warranty that new products have. Sonos always offers a discount when buying refurbished gear compared to buying new, but some of the current sale prices are better than usual. For instance, its smallest plug-in speaker, the Era 100, is down to $134 (versus $219 new). The bigger Era 300 that offers louder, more immersive sound is $329, a huge $150 off discount.
There are also deals on refurbished home theater add-ons, as well as on hybrid speakers that work just as well outside for a barbecue as they do inside, linked to a larger group of Sonos speakers over Wi-Fi. The second-gen Sonos Beam soundbar with Dolby Atmos support and a wider sound than the first-gen model is down to $299 in black, which is $50 less than the best-ever price on a new model (it currently sells new for $499). Finally, the Sonos Move 2 that has a IP56 water-resistant design and up to 24 hours of battery life, plus line-in audio support, is $299. That’s a phenomenal deal considering the cost for a new unit hasn’t gone below $399 since last September. It currently costs $499 new at retailers.
Sonos Era 100 (refurbished)
Sonos’ Era 100 smart speaker is a replacement for the older Sonos One, utilizing two tweeters (left and right) and one larger woofer. In addition to Wi-Fi, the Era 100 also supports Bluetooth audio and line-in playback via an optional 3.5mm to USB-C adapter. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Sonos Era 300 (refurbished)
The hourglass-shaped Sonos Era 300 is designed from the ground up for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. It supports the same Bluetooth and line-in features as the Era 100. If you pair two 300s together with a Sonos Arc or Beam (Gen 2), you can get truly immersive home theater surround sound. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Sonos Beam (second-gen, refurbished)
The Sonos Beam (second-gen) is a compact soundbar with bigger, wider sound than its predecessor. It supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio, and can stream music from a plethora of services. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Sonos Move 2 (refurbished)
With double the battery life of its predecessor and better-sounding stereo audio, the Sonos Move 2’s improvements don’t stop there. It supports line-in audio, can stream Bluetooth audio to other Sonos speakers, and more. Read our review.
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Meta is laying off 10 percent of its staff
Meta is planning to layoff around 10 percent of employees in May, according to a memo from the company's chief people officer, Janelle Gale, published by Bloomberg. That means approximately 8,000 people will see their jobs cut. Meta will also be closing around 6,000 open roles, according to Gale.
The cuts follow Meta's significant investments in AI, including spending huge sums to hire top talent and build data centers. The company forecast in January that it will spend $115 billion to $135 billion in capital expenditures in 2026 - a significant increase from its $72.22 billion in capital expenditures for 2025. The increase is to "support o …
‘We Are Xbox’: read the memo defining Microsoft’s gaming future
Microsoft's new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has laid out a new strategy for what she describes as a "return of Xbox." In a joint memo with Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, Sharma and Booty lay out their vision for the future of Xbox that will be judged on daily active players and the priorities of hardware, content, experience, and services.
"Players are frustrated," admits Sharma and Booty. "New feature drops on console have been less frequent. Our presence on PC isn't strong enough. Pricing is getting harder for people to keep up with. And core experiences like search, discovery, social, and personalization still feel too fragmented. Devel …
Microsoft’s new Xbox chief is ‘reevaluating’ exclusive games
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma held an all-hands meeting this morning and laid out her strategy for a "return of Xbox" with employees. While rebranding Microsoft Gaming back to Xbox was part of the agenda, Sharma also revealed that Xbox is looking into "reevaluating" Xbox exclusive games and windowed releases of titles.
It's a hot topic for Xbox fans, who were shocked when Microsoft decided to start porting games over to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, but there's no firm commitment on a return to Xbox exclusives just yet. "Along the way, we will reevaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide," says …
Democrats want to ban ICE from turning warehouses into detention centers
A bill introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from converting warehouses and similar buildings into immigrant detention centers, an attempt to slow President Donald Trump's mass deportations campaign. The Ban Warehouse Detention Act would also forbid Immigration and Customs Enforcement from developing other "non-traditional" detention facilities.
"ICE and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] are murdering people in the streets, tearing families apart, abducting our neighbors, and locking them in cages. Now they are attempting to buy and convert warehouses across our country into massive pr …
Spirit is broken
The bright yellow livery of Spirit Airlines may soon disappear from the skies. The country's seventh-largest airline has been in financial trouble for years: It hasn't turned a profit since 2019 and filed for bankruptcy twice in the last two years. Despite all that, its leaders predicted that the airline could exit bankruptcy and return to profitability as early as 2027. It just needed time and a little stability to do so.
That time may have run out. On Monday, April 20th, Spirit approached the government to ask for a federal bailout. The sudden rise in fuel prices caused by the war in Iran will add an estimated $360 million in unexpected c …
Anthropic’s Mythos breach was humiliating
Anthropic's tightly controlled rollout of Claude Mythos has taken an awkward turn. After spending weeks insisting the AI model is so capable at cybersecurity that it is too dangerous to release publicly, it appears the model fell into the wrong hands anyway.
According to Bloomberg, a "small group of unauthorized users" has had access to Mythos - whose existence was first revealed in a leak - since the day Anthropic announced plans to offer it to a select group of companies for testing. Anthropic says it is investigating. That's a rough look for a company that has built its brand on taking AI safety seriously while touting the cybersecurity …
OpenAI says its new GPT-5.5 model is more efficient and better at coding
OpenAI just announced its new GPT-5.5 model, which the company calls its "smartest and most intuitive to use model yet, and the next step toward a new way of getting work done on a computer." OpenAI just released GPT-5.4 last month, but says that the new GPT-5.5 "excels" at tasks like writing and debugging code, doing research online, making spreadsheets and documents, and doing that work across different tools.
"Instead of carefully managing every step, you can give GPT-5.5 a messy, multi-part task and trust it to plan, use tools, check its work, navigate through ambiguity, and keep going," according to OpenAI. The company also notes that …
Ikea’s new inflatable chair doesn’t look like an inflatable chair
Ikea shared a sneak preview of three pieces from a new experimental collection, set to be fully revealed at an annual company event on May 13th. One of the pieces is an inflatable chair that looks like a far cry from the cheap and lumpy inflatable furniture popularized in the '90s.
This isn't the first time Ikea's designers have experimented with inflatable furniture. The Ikea Museum website has an entire page dedicated to what it calls an "idea that fell flat." In 2000 the furniture maker introduced its inflatable Rolig easy chair and Innerlig sofa but they were expensive and suffered from leaky valves, resulting in both pieces slowly defl …