OpenAI has released ChatGPT Images 2.5, which includes a new Sketch feature allowing users to draw a rough doodle inside ChatGPT and have it converted into a polished image based on typed instructions. Users can invoke the tool by typing @Sketch, then annotate specific parts of the generated image with comments to request targeted edits, such as changing eye color. OpenAI says the update also improves lighting and texture quality, strengthens multi-turn editing consistency, and cuts image generation latency by up to 50% compared to the previous version.
Sophos researchers detailed a second-stage Linux rootkit infecting F5 BIG-IP APM systems, likely delivered after attackers exploited the critical CVE-2025-53521 remote code execution flaw. The malware infects Apache's httpd process, hooks internal functions to intercept PHP file loading, and injects a web shell into memory rather than writing files to disk, while also altering SELinux settings and persisting through firmware upgrades. ESET separately analyzed the same threat under the name PoisonedRefresh.
After five years of development, Pistol Shrimp Games has launched a free public demo of Free Stars: Children of Infinity, the sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters made by that game's original creators. The demo focuses solely on the melee combat mode, letting players choose from 38 ships—including nearly all classic Ur-Quan Masters vessels plus new additions—for head-to-head arcade battles. It's available now on Steam and GOG for Windows, Mac, and Linux, with console versions still to come.
Amazon is selling the XGIMI MoGo 4 Laser portable projector for $539, a $170 cut from its $709 list price. The 24% discount matches the lowest price the device has hit, previously only available during Prime Day.
An analysis breaks down why cheap and expensive smart TVs differ mainly in their system-on-a-chip, which handles video decoding, upscaling, and app performance. Budget TVs often lack AI-assisted upscaling, are capped at 60Hz refresh rates, and tend to run menus and apps more slowly, while pricier models handle 120Hz output and sharper image reconstruction.
Amazon and other retailers have posted the first-ever discount on Apple's newly announced M5 Max Mac Studio, even before units begin shipping this month. The same roundup includes lingering post-Labor Day pricing on AirPods Pro 3 at $50 off, a return of the $20-per-unit AirTag 2 deal, $100 off the base 2026 Studio Display, and $150 off the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air.
NextEra Energy has received a $1.9 billion federal loan to refurbish the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, a nuclear plant shuttered since 2020 that Google pledged to help revive last October. The plant is slated to restart in 2029, with Google reportedly planning up to six data centers nearby, while only 50 megawatts of output will go to the local power cooperative.
A design educator who teaches a course on behavior change argues that every design decision—whether for a book cover, app, or ad—is ultimately an attempt to influence user actions, most often to boost sales or shareholder value. The essay contrasts public companies, B corps, and nonprofits, noting that even mission-driven organizations use design to drive fundraising or other outcomes, and that designers rarely know an employer's true motives until they're inside.
Amazon is selling Anker's compact Nano Laptop Docking Station for $111.99, a 25% cut from its $149.99 list price. The dock offers 13 ports total, including a removable 6-in-1 hub, and supports triple monitors via dual HDMI and one DisplayPort output.
Motif Design has launched a browser-based platform that lets architecture teams work with highly complex building models directly online, without specialized desktop software. The tool is positioned as a collaboration-first alternative to traditional architectural modeling workflows, echoing the browser-native approach that made Figma popular in design.
Google DeepMind has released AlphaGenome Atlas, a 1-petabyte database that uses its AlphaGenome AI model to predict the regulatory impact of all roughly 9 billion possible single-letter mutations across the human genome. The Atlas also introduces a scoring system called AVI, which condenses complex coding and non-coding predictions into one number researchers can use to quickly identify which genetic variants deserve closer study.
A hardware comparison finds that Nintendo's Switch 2 and Valve's Steam Deck are closely matched in handheld mode, with the Switch 2's Nvidia Ampere GPU offering a slight graphical edge over the Deck's AMD RDNA 2 chip. The gap widens dramatically when the Switch 2 is docked, boosting its GPU output from about 1.71 to 3.7 TFLOPS, enabling 4K/60fps in titles like Metroid Prime 4, while the Deck sees no docked performance boost. Meanwhile, the Steam Deck's Zen 2 CPU can hit higher clock speeds and it also carries more unified memory, 16GB versus the Switch 2's 12GB.
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