GoKawiil
Tech News
Apple is said to be overhauling the lesser-known display areas inside its retail stores, internally called 'Avenues,' to prepare shoppers for an upcoming home product. The change reportedly signals that Apple wants dedicated in-store space to educate customers on a new category of device before it launches.
A new essay compares today's push for AI-readable documentation (AGENTS.md files) to the earlier evolution from manual server configuration to Kubernetes and serverless platforms. The author argues that just as Kubernetes didn't eliminate infrastructure work but abstracted it—moving focus from individual machines to workloads—AI agents are likely to automate lower-level tasks while engineers retain decision-making responsibility over higher-level architecture.
A developer released Thoreau BASIC, an interpreter compatible with GW-BASIC that can boot directly on bare-metal UEFI machines, with a Windows version also available. It supports classic BASIC constructs like DEF FN, GOSUB, error trapping, and graphics commands such as PSET, LINE, CIRCLE, and PAINT, working at native framebuffer resolution with 16-color EGA or 24-bit RGB.
Slovak investigators reportedly discovered a hidden backdoor of Russian origin embedded in the country's traffic speed camera systems. The finding raises concerns that the compromised devices could have been used for surveillance or remote manipulation without operator knowledge.
Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson, working with the Digital Economy Lab, now says there is no evidence of economy-wide job losses from AI, though entry-level positions remain vulnerable. His updated research finds productivity growth accelerating instead, with nonfarm business productivity rising over 2% annually, the strongest pace since the late 1990s.
A review of naturism's history and modern research suggests that spending time nude among others, whether at clubs, beaches or organized events, can improve how people feel about their own bodies. The report traces the practice from ancient Greek athletics and indigenous customs through the rise of formal naturist societies in Britain, the US and colonial India in the early 20th century, noting a documented surge in social nudity's popularity in the 1970s.
Scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University produced aviation biofuel from coconut oil using a low-energy 'co-solvent' method that mixes acetone, alcohol and coconut oil instead of relying on high heat and pressure. When burned in a small jet engine, blends of this biofuel with standard jet fuel matched pure kerosene's thermal efficiency while cutting unburned hydrocarbon emissions, though they consumed slightly more fuel and produced marginally more carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide levels in the exhaust remained roughly the same as with pure kerosene across all blend ratios tested.
Several widely-used smartwatches, including Google's Pixel Watch 2, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro, and multiple Apple Watch models, will lose software support in 2026. The devices will continue basic functions like fitness tracking and notifications but won't receive further feature updates or, in some cases, security patches. Apple is reportedly retiring five watch models in a single watchOS release, one of its largest support cuts to date.
Despite many employers reversing AI-related layoffs over the past year, 53% of Americans still fear AI could cost someone in their household a job, according to new commentary from Gartner's Jackie Swanson. She argues most companies have detailed AI adoption plans but lack honest strategies for addressing the impact on employees, career pacing, and leadership pipelines. Contract software firm Ironclad offers a contrasting approach, framing AI as a tool for skill-building and business growth rather than job cuts, using peer training and upskilling programs to maintain worker confidence.
Developers have ported AROS, the open-source Amiga Research Operating System, to run directly on Raspberry Pi hardware without virtualization, in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Previously, running AROS on a Pi required emulating it inside Linux; now it boots bare-metal, targeting the Pi3 with discussions underway for Pi4 and Zero2W support.
Slovakia's national security agency NBU issued an alert stating that NERO R-ONE traffic cameras purchased for a €30 million EU-funded monitoring project contain a hidden backdoor allowing shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The agency found the devices are rebranded versions of a Russian camera made by St. Petersburg-based Semicon, following opposition claims that the Interior Ministry bought them through a Cyprus shell company using fake certifications.
Following the Wi-Fi Alliance's early 2024 rollout of the Wi-Fi 7 standard, routers and devices supporting it have become increasingly widespread. The new standard offers faster speeds and better performance in crowded network environments, while remaining backward compatible so older gadgets still connect without issues, albeit without accessing the newest features like 4K-QAM and Multi-Link Operation.