Cloudflare reworked the Rust codebase powering its Big Pineapple DNS caching system, shrinking the average cache entry from 953 bytes to 420 bytes without adding any hardware. The changes—including replacing growable Vec and String types with fixed-size boxed slices and consolidating record storage into a single buffer—cut per-instance memory use from 9.3GB to 5.3GB while also boosting insert speed and lowering lookup latency.
A joint project by the Italian Linux Society and the Free Software Foundation Europe, called Refund4Freedom, has launched a website offering forms and guidance for consumers seeking refunds on Windows 11 licenses bundled with new PCs. The site reports that Acer and Lenovo have functioning refund processes, Asus offers one only through an obscure Italian channel, while Dell and HP currently provide no such option. It also warns buyers to keep proof of an untouched system before attempting a refund claim.
During a hands-on preview session, Rockstar North's Rob Nelson demonstrated GTA 6 running at 30 FPS and told YouTuber Davy Jones the studio has no confirmed 60 FPS mode for launch, even on PS5 Pro. Nelson said he'd need to check with the technical team about whether higher frame rates might arrive later.
Deco Gear has launched the DG49OLED240, a 49-inch curved 32:9 QD-OLED gaming monitor that effectively merges two 27-inch QHD displays into a single seamless screen. The $1,230 monitor runs at 5120x1440 resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate, Adaptive-Sync, HDR400 support, and wide color gamut coverage.
Residents and advocacy group Stand.earth allege that the DataOne data center in Vineland, New Jersey — tied to a $19.4 billion Nebius-Microsoft GPU deal — has been running dozens of unpermitted gas turbines and building an unpermitted 1.5-million-gallon LNG storage tank near two schools. Locals say they only learned the site was a data center after the Microsoft deal became public, and complaints about nighttime noise and air pollution led to a delayed town hall in January 2026, months after construction began.
Soundcore's new Liberty 5 Pro earbuds carry a Guinness World Records certification for the highest speech quality score among wireless earbuds. A WIRED reviewer testing dozens of earbud models found the Liberty 5 Pro noticeably improved phone call clarity, particularly for conversations with elderly relatives, while also featuring a redesigned, larger pill-shaped body with multiple ear tip and wing options for comfort.
OPPO has introduced a small magnetic rear-display accessory called the Bubble for its Reno 16 Pro smartphone, designed to let users preview shots using the phone's rear cameras rather than the front-facing camera. The accessory attaches to a special magnetic case, is roughly the size of a small cookie, and includes a single button and a USB-C port for control and charging.
Buffalo Wild Wings is closing a number of underperforming restaurants across the country, even as the chain continues to operate more than 1,400 locations nationwide. The closures mean some customers will lose their nearest outlet, though the brand's overall footprint remains largely intact.
Researchers gave students at 18 Tennessee middle schools two years of access to Khanmigo, Khan Academy's generative AI tutor designed to guide them toward answers rather than hand them out. The study found that while nearly all students had access, actual use for schoolwork was minimal, with many instead sending off-topic prompts like requests for jokes or essays about pizza, or trying to trick the bot into giving direct answers.
A quantitative analysis tested whether the eight antediluvian reign lengths in the Sumerian King List, which sum to 241,200 years, correspond to actual Quaternary climate or geological events when rescaled and anchored near 11,600 years ago. Comparing the sequence against a catalog of paleoclimate events using a defined null model, the researcher found the alignment was not statistically significant.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a Nevada case that betting on sporting outcomes does not qualify as a federally regulated 'swap' under the Commodity Exchange Act, rejecting the broad interpretation that prediction-market firm Kalshi has relied on to argue states can't block its sports contracts. The decision undermines the reasoning Arizona federal judge Michael Liburdi used earlier this year to block Arizona's attorney general from prosecuting Kalshi under state gambling laws.
An old, otherwise unused Android phone can be repurposed to extend home Wi-Fi coverage into dead zones without buying new hardware like extenders or mesh nodes. Users can rely on the phone's built-in hotspot feature, which lets it connect to an existing Wi-Fi network and rebroadcast the signal as a repeater, requiring no extra apps or technical skill.