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Kelly Shen, an MIT graduate from the class of 2017, works in Sotheby's art intelligence division, where she designs algorithms that forecast auction prices based on buyer trends and artist popularity. Her work also includes cataloguing art pieces and building real-time systems capable of handling thousands of simultaneous bidders on the auction house's website.
Garmin unveiled its fēnix 9 series, including a base model and a Pro variant, each available in three case sizes with new ComfortFit bands. The watches gain a brighter AMOLED display, 50% more RAM, a faster map engine, and features like Perspective view and Garmin Epic for grouping activities. The base fēnix 9 starts at $999.99, while the titanium fēnix 9 Pro, which adds 3,000 nits of brightness and a green light mode, starts at $1,099.99.
Spectrum is now offering a complimentary Amazon Prime subscription, normally priced at $14.99 monthly, to customers enrolled in its Internet Assist program for low-income households and seniors. Eligibility includes recipients of SSI, SNAP, Medicaid or the National School Lunch Program, and both new and existing Spectrum internet customers can claim it regardless of which internet tier they use. The perk arrives shortly after Spectrum reported losing 172,000 internet subscribers in its latest quarterly earnings.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced that SpaceX will invest up to $100 billion to construct a large-scale Starship manufacturing and launch complex along the state's Gulf coast, near Abbeville. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell described the site as a self-sufficient spaceport featuring propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping, vehicle processing, and its own airport.
A team led by associate professor Lahiru Jayakody at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has engineered yeast strains that break down PET plastic bottles combined with agricultural waste like corn stalks into a protein-rich, vanilla-flavored snack called µBites. The project grew out of NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, and though it did not win the competition, NASA encouraged the team to keep refining the concept, leading to improved taste, aroma and color unveiled recently at the American Chemical Society Expo in Chicago.
A FrontPrep engineer noticed that adding a 200ms delay to tooltips fixed accidental pop-ups from cursor movement but made scanning multiple adjacent company logos feel sluggish. The fix introduces a 300ms 'warm window' after a tooltip closes, during which any new tooltip opens instantly, reverting to the standard delay only after that window expires.
Australia's recorded music industry association announced that songs created entirely by artificial intelligence will no longer qualify for the country's official music charts. The same ban extends to the Australian Record Industry Association's annual awards, effectively shutting AI-made tracks out of the nation's top music recognitions.
Google Play awards points for purchases like apps, in-app purchases, movies, books, and eligible subscriptions, but many users never spend them. Those points can be exchanged for gift cards from retailers including Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, DoorDash, Walmart, Target, and Uber, priced at $5 for 750 points, $10 for 1,500, and $20 for 3,000. Unused points expire 12 months after the last account activity, with that window resetting each time points are earned or spent.
A ZDNET writer tested FydeOS, a free Linux-based operating system built to mimic ChromeOS, by installing it on an aging Windows laptop. The OS successfully replicated the Chromebook experience—fast boot times, background updates, and support for web, Android, and Linux apps—though selecting the correct build for the hardware proved confusing.
Google is extending Gemini's ability to generate interactive 3D models and simulations, first announced in April, to all Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users meeting age requirements. The feature lets users ask Gemini to visualize complex concepts—like DNA structures—as manipulable models rather than static images. It is available immediately in the Gemini app.
In Houston, two on-duty police officers jumped into an Uber driver's vehicle mid-shift to pursue a shirtless suspect who had allegedly threatened a woman and her two children. The driver, Anthony Baines, followed the officers' directions and even picked up a second officer before both bailed out to continue the chase on foot. The suspect ultimately got away, and Baines later learned he wasn't legally obligated to assist police in that way.
Interpol conducted an eight-month operation, dubbed Jackal IV, from November 2025 to June 2026 targeting the global support networks enabling West African cybercrime syndicates like Black Axe. The effort spanned 22 countries across six continents, resulting in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects linked to romance scams, crypto fraud, business email compromise, and violent crimes. In Argentina alone, authorities uncovered a crime-as-a-service network supplying domains and money laundering to these gangs, identifying about 200 people and arresting 17.