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Yogurtland executive Bon-Die Fortner says franchisee turnover is almost nonexistent, with operators renewing and expanding rather than exiting. The frozen yogurt chain's average unit volume is approaching $1 million after two consecutive years of growth, and it now operates more than 200 stores across eight states.
A language essay from The Dead Language Society examines how the everyday word 'weird' descends from Old English 'wyrd,' a term meaning fate or destiny that appears in poems like Beowulf and The Wanderer. The piece traces the shift from wyrd's grim, inexorable sense of 'that which happens' to its modern casual usage describing odd smells or strange coworkers.
A hobbyist designed a PCB business card that uses an NFC chip's energy-harvesting capability to power 21 LEDs and an ATtiny412 microcontroller, all without a battery. Tapping the card against a phone triggers an LED animation, drawing power solely from the phone's NFC field via chips like the NXP NTAG I2C Plus or STMicro ST25DV-KC that can route excess harvested voltage to external components. The creator built the project in about three months as a way to learn KiCad, and has published the full design files publicly.
An advocacy campaign is calling on laptop buyers to request refunds for the Microsoft Windows license bundled with their device, arguing that most laptops are sold exclusively with Windows pre-installed even if the buyer intends to use another operating system. The campaign frames this as an unfair practice and provides guidance for consumers to formally request reimbursement from vendors.
Leaker Kacper Skrzypek shared screenshots and video showing Xiaomi's upcoming Smart Privacy Display, a feature that lets users block onlookers from viewing their screen at certain apps or notifications. Unlike Samsung's hardware-based Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Xiaomi's version appears to be software-driven and is expected to arrive with the HyperOS 4 update later this year. Some related options, like Page Privacy Display and XiaoAI app groups, currently only appear on the China ROM.
The TCL QM7L mini-LED television is currently on sale, with the 55-inch model dropping to $797.99, a $200 markdown from its regular price. Discounts also extend to larger screen sizes, though Amazon shows limited stock remaining for the 65-inch version.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk violated the company's First and Fifth Amendment rights. The label had led federal agencies to halt work with Anthropic after the company refused to loosen safety limits on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance uses for its Claude models. Lin found the government's own contradictory actions, including pursuing new contracts and cybersecurity collaboration with Anthropic, undermined its claim that the company posed a genuine risk.
At Gamescom 2026, Samsung introduced its new P Series of external SSDs, the professional-grade P9 and the more general-purpose P7, both using USB4 connectivity. The P9 reaches sequential read speeds of 4,000MBps and write speeds of 3,800MBps, roughly double the previous T9 generation, while the P7 emphasizes broad device compatibility and drop-test durability.
A developer released Talos, version 0.15.1-alpha, an MIT-licensed AI agent that pairs a sandboxed Claude-based worker with real shell access for building, testing, and browsing tasks. Every action the agent attempts is checked by a separate deterministic security kernel that authorizes each tool call individually, tying it to exact arguments and letting it run only once within a thirty-second window.
Developer TakaiSaisei has released a modified version of the Pixel IMS app, originally created by kyujin-cho in 2023, that lets Pixel owners enable VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling in markets Google doesn't officially support. Unlike the original tool, this version doesn't require the Shizuku system app and its settings persist after a device reboot, simplifying setup to sideloading the app and pairing it via wireless debugging.
ZDNET is hosting a multi-round 'Big Guessing Game' where readers predict Apple's September 2026 announcements, such as a foldable iPhone or touchscreen MacBook, to win an Apple Watch. The contest's final round closes at 11:59 pm ET on September 1, with winners determined after Apple's event based on correct guesses. Early results show readers split, with 55% doubting a foldable iPhone and 28% expecting a touchscreen MacBook.
Tom's Hardware reviewed MSI's flagship MPG Ai1600TS PCIE5, a 1600W power supply built on a CWT platform with Titanium-rated efficiency confirmed at both 115V and 230V input. The unit adds a rear USB-C port for real-time monitoring and basic power management tied to MSI's GPU Safeguard+ system, which aims to prevent 12V-2x6 connector overheating and overcurrent damage.