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A software engineer reflects on how years of routine coding work and constant smartphone distractions have dulled their thinking and reading habits compared to their more intellectually demanding early career and university years. They describe attempting to counter this decline by deliberately unplugging and cutting back on short-form content, games, and other low-effort entertainment during a recent vacation.
A CNET survey found 55% of US adults say a lower price would push them to upgrade their phone, while 52% cite longer battery life and 38% want more storage. Only 12% said AI features would motivate an upgrade, and just 13% said a new form factor like a foldable would sway them. The findings come ahead of Apple's Sept. 9 event, where the company is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone alongside new iPhone 18 Pro models.
Singaporean startup Lingverse unveiled iKairos at IFA Berlin, a modular AI gadget built around a circular 'neural core' that can be worn as a necklace pendant or plugged into a small desktop robot body. The core module features a display with cartoon eyes and a hidden camera that slides open only when needed, letting it record photos or video. Lingverse says the device ambiently tracks conversations, surroundings and habits to log memories and offer personalized suggestions.
Yugoslav manufacturer Iskra Delta built its Partner microcomputer in the 1980s by assembling widely available components rather than designing everything in-house, following the industry shift pioneered by minicomputers and cemented by the IBM PC. The report traces the Partner's case specifically to a UK design origin, illustrating how even locally branded machines relied on components and designs sourced from elsewhere.
Security firm Sansec has detected active exploitation of an unpatched vulnerability, dubbed StyleSmuggler, affecting all versions of Magento and Adobe Commerce. Attackers inject PHP code through the platform's template system by triggering a fake failed-payment email, which then installs a Rust-based backdoor disguised as a legitimate Linux process and sets up a cron job for persistence. Adobe has confirmed it is working on a patch but has not given a release date.
Developer Marcelo Guibout built a ReShade-based tool called MGPU Bridge that offloads Nvidia's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering step to a second GPU, letting one card handle game rendering while the other applies neural post-processing. Demonstrated on Cyberpunk 2077 and The Blood of Dawnwalker using two RTX 5060 Ti cards, the setup reportedly boosted neural-rendered frame rates by up to 127%, though it requires a second monitor and adds display latency. The project is available on GitHub for others to test.
Because Windows runs across countless third-party manufacturers rather than one vertically integrated maker like Apple, laptop quality and battery life vary widely depending on the model chosen. Budget Windows machines often use plastic builds and x86 chips with weaker battery life, while premium options like the Dell XPS 13 or Asus Zenbook A16 rival MacBooks in build quality, and ARM-based Windows laptops from Qualcomm and MediaTek now close the battery gap, though at the cost of software compatibility.
A Reddit demo shows the Pixel 11's American Sign Language translation feature converting continuous signing into English text within Gboard, confirming it works as advertised beyond Google's official showcase. The tool, powered by Google's SL2T model, analyzes hand, arm, torso, head and facial movements to interpret meaning rather than requiring manual input.
Reports say Apple is developing a privacy-focused home security and monitoring device that uses AI rather than video footage, tied to a new subscription service. Separately, executives including Eddy Cue are reportedly exploring ways to raise App Store margins and extract more recurring revenue from developers.
Stella Parton took to Instagram to condemn a wave of AI-generated content and misinformation circulating online following her sister Dolly Parton's death on 25 August at age 80. While thanking fans for genuine expressions of support, she said the volume of fabricated posts had been difficult for her family to cope with during their grief.
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument team has published an updated version of its Legacy Imaging Surveys, offering free public access to the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos ever assembled. The dataset spans 5.6 trillion pixels and roughly 75 percent of the sky, cataloging about 4 billion stars, galaxies, black holes and asteroids captured in visible and near-infrared light.
A developer found that CodePen's updated editor sends everything typed into its code fields to codepen.dev within one to two seconds, even without saving. Using a unique test marker in an HTML file, they confirmed CodePen triggered a build with save disabled and the marker still appeared verbatim in the generated preview page served from a codepen.dev subdomain.