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Hidden Apple G3 Easter Egg Reveals Untold Story of a Groundbreaking Team

2025-06-29

Hidden Apple G3 Easter Egg Reveals Untold Story of a Groundbreaking Team

A blogger unearthed a hidden Easter egg in Apple's G3 All-in-One: a team photo embedded in the system ROM, revealed only through a specific process. This is possibly one of the last undocumented Easter eggs from the pre-Steve Jobs return era. Functional in Mac OS 9.0.4, it was disabled in version 9.1, coinciding with Jobs' reported ban on Easter eggs in 1997. Bill Saperstein, the G3 team lead, confirmed the egg's existence and shared the story of the 'ragtag' team's secret project, highlighting their crucial role in developing the technology that ultimately fueled the iMac's success.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Apple Easter Egg G3 All-in-One

Microsoft Extends Windows 10 Security Updates: Free? Not So Fast.

2025-06-28

Microsoft Extends Windows 10 Security Updates: Free? Not So Fast.

Microsoft announced free extended security updates for some Windows 10 users, but with a catch: a Microsoft account is required, and enrollment happens via Windows Backup or Microsoft Rewards. This is seen as a strategic move by Microsoft to nudge users towards Windows 11, though updates continue even after account sign-out or discontinuing Windows Backup use. The seemingly free updates mask a push for Microsoft account integration, strengthening its ecosystem control.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Formula E Gen4: 804 hp Electric Beast on the Horizon

2025-06-27

Formula E Gen4: 804 hp Electric Beast on the Horizon

The upcoming Formula E Gen4 car boasts a massive power upgrade, jumping from 470 hp to a staggering 804 hp, nearing the power of F1 cars. Despite the significant power boost, energy efficiency remains a key focus, with regenerative braking reaching 700 kW. Williams Advanced Engineering is out, replaced by Italian battery supplier Podium Advanced Technologies, and Bridgestone takes over tire supply from Hankook, introducing high and low-downforce wing configurations. Performance will sit between F1, F2, and IndyCar; while not matching F1's cornering prowess, the Gen4's 800+ hp and AWD will deliver blistering acceleration out of corners. Testing has already seen speeds of 210 mph (338 km/h).

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Formula E Electric Racing

Viking Navigation: No Maps, No Compass, No Problem?

2025-06-27

Viking Navigation: No Maps, No Compass, No Problem?

A modern-day explorer recreated a Viking-age sea voyage, suggesting Vikings may not have relied on navigational tools like maps, compasses, or sextants. Months at sea revealed their reliance on 'mental maps' – a maritime cultural mindscape passed down through generations of sailors – supplemented by myths associated with coastal landmarks. Thousands of years of coastal navigation rendered advanced instruments unnecessary.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Seafaring

Broadcom's VMware Audits Spark Controversy: Customers Question Aggressive Tactics

2025-06-27

Broadcom's VMware Audits Spark Controversy: Customers Question Aggressive Tactics

Following its $69 billion acquisition of VMware, Broadcom's aggressive license compliance reviews are sparking controversy. Broadcom has sent cease-and-desist letters and audit notices to numerous companies, but several firms deny wrongdoing, claiming they only installed security patches or no longer use VMware at all. This has led to potential financial repercussions for some companies, including possible layoffs. Broadcom's strong-arm tactics have damaged its image and prompted calls for regulation of its business practices.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech License Compliance

Meta's AI Training Data Copyright Dispute: Judge Rules in Favor of Authors

2025-06-27

Meta's AI Training Data Copyright Dispute: Judge Rules in Favor of Authors

Meta faces a copyright lawsuit for using pirated books to train its AI model, Llama. Judge Chhabria ruled that while Meta's downloading was for the "highly transformative" purpose of AI training, this doesn't excuse copyright infringement. The judge noted the inseparability of Meta's downloading and Llama's training, and the possibility that Meta indirectly supported pirate libraries by providing computing power. While Meta hasn't been shown to directly profit from pirate libraries, the judge pointed out that most such P2P file-sharing cases are found to be infringing. The final ruling will favor authors if they can provide evidence that Meta contributed to the BitTorrent network and thus aided pirate libraries.

(arstechnica.com)

AI

No More Clogging: A Revolutionary Fog Harvester Design

2025-06-27

No More Clogging: A Revolutionary Fog Harvester Design

Scientists have developed a novel fog harvester, the 'hybrid harp,' which cleverly uses geometric design instead of chemical coatings to solve the clogging problem common in traditional fog nets. Unlike traditional nets, the hybrid harp uses 3D-printed hydrophobic plastic or uncoated stainless steel wires as 'strings', achieving high efficiency without chemical coatings and allowing for easy scalability. Future applications extend beyond coastal fog harvesting to mitigating safety hazards from fog on roads and airports, and even industrial applications controlling ice fog formation.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech fog harvesting geometric design

SteamOS Gaming Benchmarks: Proton's Unexpected Victory

2025-06-26

SteamOS Gaming Benchmarks: Proton's Unexpected Victory

SteamOS delivered surprising performance gains in recent gaming benchmarks. Four out of five tested games showed significantly higher frame rates compared to Windows, with only Borderlands 3 exhibiting negligible differences. Even accounting for Proton's translation layer, SteamOS consistently outperformed Windows, highlighting Valve's ongoing improvements to Proton and Mesa graphics drivers. Lenovo's default Windows drivers proved significantly weaker, while updated Asus drivers, although better, still lagged behind SteamOS in most titles. The results underscore the impact of streamlined OS overhead and optimized drivers on gaming performance.

(arstechnica.com)

Game

Google Earth Turns 20: Time Travel Feature Arrives

2025-06-25

Google Earth Turns 20: Time Travel Feature Arrives

Google Earth is celebrating its 20th anniversary with exciting updates. Users can now 'time travel' with integrated historical Street View imagery, revisiting locations as they appeared in the past. Pro users will also gain access to new AI-driven insights. Inspired by a social media trend of sharing historical location images, this update adds historical Street View images to Google Earth and enhances its 3D timelapse feature, showcasing how areas have changed over time. From its clunky desktop beginnings to its web, mobile, and Pro desktop applications today, Google Earth has come a long way.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Street View

Microsoft's Open-Source MS-DOS Editor Remake: A Blast from the Past

2025-06-25

Microsoft's Open-Source MS-DOS Editor Remake: A Blast from the Past

Microsoft has released a modern, open-source remake of its classic MS-DOS Editor, aptly named "Edit." Built with Rust, this cross-platform editor runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux—a significant departure from its 1991 origins in MS-DOS 5.0. The release has delighted longtime users, offering a nostalgic trip back to a simpler time while also providing a user-friendly alternative to complex text editors found on some platforms. The full-screen interface, mouse support, and intuitive menus stand in stark contrast to its predecessor, EDLIN, and even some modern Linux editors like Vim, making it a welcome addition for both seasoned programmers and newcomers alike.

(arstechnica.com)

Development MS-DOS Editor

China-linked Hackers Exploit Cisco Flaw to Breach Canadian Telecom

2025-06-23

China-linked Hackers Exploit Cisco Flaw to Breach Canadian Telecom

Canadian and US officials announced Monday that hackers suspected of working for the Chinese government exploited a critical vulnerability (CVE-2023-20198) in Cisco IOS XE, patched 16 months prior, to compromise a Canadian telecommunications provider. The group, known as Salt Typhoon, previously targeted US telecoms like Verizon and AT&T. The breach potentially allowed access to wiretap systems used by government agencies and other internet traffic.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech state-sponsored cyberattack China hacking state-sponsored attack

Judge Rejects User Intervention in AI Chatbot Privacy Case

2025-06-23

Judge Rejects User Intervention in AI Chatbot Privacy Case

A judge ordered an AI chatbot company to preserve user chat logs in a lawsuit, raising privacy concerns. User Hunt argued the order was overly broad, potentially leading to mass surveillance, and requested exemptions for sensitive information like anonymous chats and conversations about medical, financial, and personal topics. The judge rejected Hunt's intervention request, emphasizing the order's limited scope to litigation, not mass surveillance. This case highlights legal challenges surrounding AI chatbot data privacy and users' lack of control over their data.

(arstechnica.com)

AI

146,000-Year-Old Harbin Skull Identified as Denisovan

2025-06-22

146,000-Year-Old Harbin Skull Identified as Denisovan

A 146,000-year-old skull unearthed in Harbin, China, has been confirmed as belonging to a Denisovan through protein analysis. Initially classified as a new species, *Homo longi*, the remarkably well-preserved skull yielded enough ancient proteins to match those of known Denisovans. This discovery not only reveals what Denisovans looked like but also unveils a fascinating story of the skull's secret preservation for nearly a century following its discovery during the Japanese occupation.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Denisovan

Pac-Man Superfast: A Speedy Blast from the Past, But Short-Lived

2025-06-21

Pac-Man Superfast: A Speedy Blast from the Past, But Short-Lived

YouTube Playables' Pac-Man Superfast delivers a high-speed Pac-Man experience reminiscent of the Championship Edition series, but with only four ghosts and a mere 13 levels. While the intense gameplay is thrilling, the lack of a 256-level mode, leaderboards, and rewards for extra lives and high scores limit replayability and competitive aspects. Despite this, the challenging gameplay and high-score pursuit make it worth a try, especially for classic arcade game fans. But hurry, before it vanishes like other defunct Google projects.

(arstechnica.com)

Game

Record-Breaking 7.3 Tbps DDoS Attack: A Wake-Up Call for Internet Security

2025-06-20

Record-Breaking 7.3 Tbps DDoS Attack: A Wake-Up Call for Internet Security

Cloudflare reported a record-breaking 7.3 Tbps distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, unleashing 37.4 TB of junk traffic in just 45 seconds. Attackers 'carpet bombed' nearly 22,000 destination ports of a single IP address, exploiting the UDP protocol's lack of connection verification to overwhelm the target server. This incident highlights the escalating threat to internet security and the growing scale and sophistication of large-scale DDoS attacks.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech UDP protocol

23,000-Year-Old Footprints Push Back Human Presence in North America

2025-06-20

23,000-Year-Old Footprints Push Back Human Presence in North America

Ancient human footprints discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico have had their age reaffirmed. Initial radiocarbon dating placed them between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago, but this was challenged due to concerns about groundwater contamination of aquatic plant samples. The team retested using radiocarbon dating on pollen from the same layers (pine, spruce, and fir), and optically stimulated luminescence dating on quartz grains above the lowest footprint layer. The new results corroborate the original age estimate, confirming the footprints' antiquity and suggesting human presence in the region before ice sheets isolated southern North America.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech ancient footprints radiocarbon dating White Sands National Park

Sneaky Google Ads Inject Fake Phone Numbers onto Legitimate Websites

2025-06-19

Sneaky Google Ads Inject Fake Phone Numbers onto Legitimate Websites

Malwarebytes uncovered a sophisticated phishing campaign. Attackers buy Google Ads appearing at the top of search results for major companies like Apple and Microsoft. These ads contain cleverly hidden parameters that inject fake phone numbers onto the legitimate website after a user clicks. These parameters are invisible in the ad itself, making detection difficult. The scam exploits the inability of some websites to identify malicious queries, displaying fake support numbers that trick users into revealing personal or financial information. Malwarebytes' browser security now flags these scams; users are advised to avoid clicking Google Ads and instead opt for organic search results.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech google ads

YouTube Shorts Explodes with Google Veo 3 AI Integration

2025-06-18

YouTube Shorts Explodes with Google Veo 3 AI Integration

Despite the rise of TikTok, YouTube viewership continues to climb, with YouTube Shorts leading the charge. Boasting a 186% year-over-year viewership increase and averaging 200 billion daily views, Shorts is set for even greater growth. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced the integration of Google's Veo 3 AI video generator with YouTube Shorts later this summer. Veo 3's eight-second video clips perfectly complement the short-form nature of Shorts, providing creators with powerful new tools and potentially fueling explosive growth.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Framework Laptop 12: Easy Repairs, But With Trade-offs

2025-06-18

Framework Laptop 12: Easy Repairs, But With Trade-offs

The Framework Laptop 12 shines with its modular design and easy repairability. Users can easily swap out components like RAM and SSDs with just a screwdriver. However, to achieve a smaller form factor, the Laptop 12 makes compromises, such as omitting a backlit keyboard and fingerprint sensor, and only supporting a single stick of DDR5 RAM, limiting memory capacity. While it uses smaller M.2 2230 SSDs, these are now more readily available. Overall, the Laptop 12 balances ease of use and upgradeability but requires users to weigh some functional limitations.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware Modular Design Repairability

OpenAI Considers Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft: A Nuclear Option?

2025-06-17

OpenAI Considers Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft: A Nuclear Option?

OpenAI is reportedly considering filing an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, its largest investor, according to The Wall Street Journal. The potential lawsuit alleges that Microsoft is leveraging its cloud dominance and contractual power to stifle competition. This move could shatter a key AI partnership, which began with a $1 billion investment in 2019 and has since grown to billions more, including Microsoft's exclusive rights to host OpenAI models on Azure. The conflict stems from OpenAI's restructuring and disagreements over Microsoft's equity stake and exclusive cloud hosting rights.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Spectrum Outage in Southern California After Attempted Copper Theft

2025-06-16

Spectrum Outage in Southern California After Attempted Copper Theft

Spectrum internet subscribers in Southern California experienced widespread outages over the weekend after thieves attempting to steal copper lines accidentally cut fiber optic cables in Van Nuys. Thousands of customers were affected. Spectrum has restored service, is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible, and is crediting affected customers one day of service. The company stated that these acts of vandalism are increasing industry-wide due to rising precious metal prices.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech fiber optic cable

Ethanol Expansion: Hidden Costs and Growing Inequality

2025-06-14

Ethanol Expansion: Hidden Costs and Growing Inequality

A new report concludes that expanding ethanol production not only increases greenhouse gas emissions but also fails to deliver promised social and economic benefits to Midwestern communities. Subsidies primarily benefit large agribusinesses, leading to land consolidation and hindering smaller farmers. Proposed policies could exacerbate these issues, increasing land conversion and emissions. Trump's tax cuts further complicate the problem by excluding land conversion emissions from low-emission fuel calculations. Biofuel industry groups haven't responded, but some argue the report overstates carbon emissions and highlight the economic contributions and job creation from soy-based fuels.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech ethanol greenhouse gas emissions

Pirelli's Smart Tires Hit the Road in Italian Pilot Program

2025-06-14

Pirelli's Smart Tires Hit the Road in Italian Pilot Program

Pirelli is launching a pilot program in Apulia, Italy, using its sensor-equipped Cyber Tires to improve road conditions. These tires monitor temperature, pressure, and wear, communicating with the car via Bluetooth Low Energy. Instead of relying on crowdsourced data from private vehicles, the program will use tires fitted to a fleet of rental cars. By analyzing data from the tires, algorithms can infer road surface roughness, informing infrastructure improvements. This technology holds promise for wider adoption, enhancing driving safety and comfort.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech smart tires sensors road infrastructure

Apple Solves Passkey's Biggest Problem: Cross-Platform Portability

2025-06-13

Apple Solves Passkey's Biggest Problem: Cross-Platform Portability

Apple showcased a crucial import/export feature for passkeys at WWDC, addressing the major drawback of this phishing-resistant authentication standard: platform lock-in. Previously, passkeys were often confined to a single operating system or password manager, making transfer between devices or platforms difficult. Apple's new functionality will allow seamless transfer of passkeys between iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, also supporting passwords and verification codes. This significantly enhances passkey adoption and counters concerns about large companies using them for ecosystem lock-in.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Reverse-Engineering a Sony PS1 Motherboard: The nsOne Project

2025-06-12

Reverse-Engineering a Sony PS1 Motherboard: The nsOne Project

Lorentio Brodesco reverse-engineered an original PlayStation 1 motherboard, painstakingly recreating its complete schematic. This wasn't just a repair job; it's a preservation effort to save the PS1's hardware architecture and ultimately produce a functional motherboard, nsOne. He's open-sourcing the design files, a tribute to the PS1 and a testament to the power of retro hardware preservation.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware

Nine-Armed Octopus Shows Remarkable Adaptability

2025-06-12

Nine-Armed Octopus Shows Remarkable Adaptability

Researchers in Spain observed an Octopus vulgaris, nicknamed Salvador, with nine arms due to unusual regeneration after a predator attack. Its bifurcated arm, resembling Dali's moustache, was initially used less for risky tasks, suggesting long-term memory of the injury. However, Salvador's nervous system adapted, integrating the ninth arm effectively into its environment exploration. This highlights the remarkable adaptability of octopuses.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Quadrupedal Robot ANYmal Takes on Badminton: Reaction Time is the Bottleneck

2025-06-11

Quadrupedal Robot ANYmal Takes on Badminton: Reaction Time is the Bottleneck

Researchers at ETH Zurich trained a quadrupedal robot, ANYmal, to play badminton. While ANYmal learned to avoid falls and assess risk based on its speed limitations, its reaction time (around 0.35 seconds) is significantly slower than elite human players (0.12-0.15 seconds). Visual perception also presented a challenge, with ANYmal's stereo camera suffering from positioning errors and limited field of view. The team plans to improve ANYmal's performance by predicting trajectories, upgrading hardware (such as event cameras), and improving actuators. However, the commercial prospects for this technology are not promising.

(arstechnica.com)

AI badminton

Google Beam: $25,000 3D Video Conferencing System

2025-06-11

Google Beam: $25,000 3D Video Conferencing System

Following the Gemini hype at Google I/O, Google unveiled Google Beam, a $24,999 3D video conferencing system developed in partnership with HP. The system uses six high-speed cameras to capture a volumetric video of the speaker, displayed on a 65-inch light field screen. This creates a hyperrealistic 3D image without the need for headsets or glasses, offering 60fps and millimeter-scale precision. Google claims Beam improves meeting efficiency and recall by enhancing non-verbal cues, and future integrations with Meet's live translation are planned. Despite the steep price, the technology is undeniably impressive.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech 3D video conferencing high-tech

Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Launch Schedule Severely Behind

2025-06-10

Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Launch Schedule Severely Behind

Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp admitted that the company's New Glenn rocket launch rate will fall far short of its target of eight launches this year. The second mission, "Never Tell Me the Odds," aiming to recover the booster, is now delayed until at least August 15th and may be the only launch this year. Insiders say Jeff Bezos is unhappy with the significant delays, and even an August launch might be optimistic, with September being more realistic. While the company claims it will produce eight second-stage rockets (GS2s) this year, this seems more like a strategy to appease Bezos.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

YouTube Loosens Content Moderation: More Controversial Videos to Remain

2025-06-09

YouTube Loosens Content Moderation: More Controversial Videos to Remain

YouTube is easing its content moderation policies. Balancing free speech with potential harm, YouTube is raising the bar for content removal, allowing more potentially controversial videos to remain in the name of 'public interest.' This could lead to more inflammatory content on topics such as elections, race, gender, sexuality, abortion, immigration, and censorship. The change follows a trend seen on other user-generated content platforms, reflecting the challenges and complexities of content moderation. YouTube states the goal is to protect free expression while mitigating egregious harm.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech public interest

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