Latest Tech News

Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more

Filtered by: ra Clear Filter

LLM-Deflate: Extracting LLMs into Datasets

Large Language Models compress massive amounts of training data into their parameters. This compression is lossy but highly effective—billions of parameters can encode the essential patterns from terabytes of text. However, what’s less obvious is that this process can be reversed: we can systematically extract structured datasets from trained models that reflect their internal knowledge representation. I’ve been working on this problem, and the results are promising. We’ve successfully applied

High-performance read-through cache for object storage

Cachey High-performance read-through cache for object storage. Simple HTTP API Hybrid memory + disk cache powered by foyer Designed for caching immutable blobs Works with any S3-compatible backend, but has its own /fetch API requiring a precise Range API requiring a precise Fixed page size (16 MiB) – maps requested byte range to page-aligned lookups Coalesces concurrent requests for the same page Makes hedged requests to manage tail latency of object storage Can attempt redundant bucket

Netflix: 22 of the Best Fantasy TV Shows to Stream Right Now

Netflix is a heavy-hitter when it comes to epic fantasy TV shows. I think we can all agree on that. You can probably point to other streamers like Prime Video or Disney Plus -- they've got solid genre libraries -- but Netflix has always been on top. It wasn't long ago when fantasy shows on television were all about slaying dragons and conquering thrones. The content landscape has changed a lot since the days of Game of Thrones, and there are so many cool stories and worlds we can immerse oursel

Your AI Art Prompts Will Keep Failing Until You Learn These Core Elements

If you've ever tried to create something with an AI image generator, you know the frustration. The perfect image you have in your mind comes out as a distorted, six-fingered nightmare on the screen. It's a common problem that can make you want to give up on AI art altogether. After spending the better part of a year testing every major AI image generator-from Midjourney to DALL-E-I've learned one critical lesson: the problem usually isn't the AI, it's the prompt. Getting great results isn't abo

If all the world were a monorepo

As a software engineer raised on a traditional diet of C, Java, and Lisp, I’ve found myself downright baffled by R. I’m no stranger to mastering new programming languages, but learning R was something else: it felt like studying Finnish after a lifetime of speaking Romance languages. I’m not alone in this experience. There are piles of discussions online revealing the difficulty of using R, with some users becoming so enraged as to claim that R is “not actually a programming language”. My strug

The New Meta Ray-Bans Might Be Your Next Disneyland Tour Guide

Walt Disney Imagineering is in the early stages of prototyping a new augmented reality experience at its theme parks. This week, the team released a video showing Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses used as a personal virtual assistant inside Disneyland. Meta is just one of the companies Disney Imagineering R&D is working with on AR. The Ray-Ban smart glasses allow Disney guests to ask questions out loud and receive real-time responses with information about rides, attractions, merchandise, food and d

Trump hits H-1B visas with $100,000 fee, targeting the program that launched Elon Musk and Instagram

President Trump just made it a lot more expensive for companies to hire foreign workers through the H-1B program. The White House announced Friday that Trump signed a proclamation requiring employers to pay a hefty $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, an enormous jump from the current $215 lottery registration fee. H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in fields that typically require technical expertise like IT, engineering, mathematics, or medicine. The program is ca

Rails Needs New Governance

The title card of Tom Stuart’s presentation, The DHH Problem. Ages ago, when I was still a student, I taught myself Ruby on Rails for my senior thesis and fell in love. Fifteen years later, and I’ve used Rails at every job I’ve ever held in the tech industry. Fifteen years, and I still love Rails! But there’s something rotten at its core, and we share a name. The DHH Problem Back in 2014, Tom Stuart delivered a pithy yet salient lightning talk at the Scottish Ruby Conference titled The DHH Pr

‘The Reluctant Traveler’ season 3 now available on Apple TV+

Eugene Levy’s “The Reluctant Traveler” is back for its third season, with an entertaining twist and plenty of special guests. Here’s what to expect. If you’ve never watched Apple TV+’s “The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy,” you should really give it a chance. During its first two seasons, the comedian has mixed exotic destinations with popular tourist attractions, some of which have even made it onto my travel list. For its third season, the Levy decided to cross a few items off his bucke

Apple releases watchOS 26.0.1, but very few users will get it

Apple is rolling out a watchOS 26.0.1 build that appears to be specific to the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Here’s what’s new. What’s new with watchOS 26.0.1? In an unusual move for a Friday afternoon, Apple just rolled out a system update for the Apple Watch, but you will only see it if you’re among the lucky users who already got their hands on the new Apple Watch Ultra 3. Here are the release notes from Apple: “This update enables Messages and Find My via satellite in Mexico for Apple Watch Ultra

Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 20 #566

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. Today's NYT Strands puzzle might be a puzzler. Some of the answers are long and a bit tough to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword

Elon Musk's Neuralink plans a brain speech trial in October

Neuralink plans to begin another US clinical trial in October, using the implant to translate thoughts into text. The study will be held through an FDA investigational device exemption. "If you're imagining saying something, we would be able to pick that up," Neuralink president DJ Seo said this week. The idea is to help people with speech impairments communicate through thought. Neuralink is among the companies testing implants that help patients control a computer with their minds. That can i

With Strings Attached

In March 2025, an anonymous buyer purchased the 1715 “Baron Knoop” Stradivarius for $23 million (U.S.), making it the most expensive violin ever sold. (The seller, the American stringed-instrument collector David L. Fulton, had purchased it for a more modest $2.75 million in 1992.) Previous record setters have included the 1721 “Lady Blunt,” which fetched $15.9 million in 2011, and the “Joachim‑Ma,” which went for $11.25 million in February 2025. All three of these models were made by Antonio S

BYD unveils world's largest 14.5 MWh DC energy storage system

BYD has unveiled a new DC energy storage system with the world’s largest single-unit capacity of 14.5 MWh, raising the bar in the rapidly evolving utility-scale storage market. The system, named “HaoHan,” was officially launched on September 18 at the International Digital Energy Expo in Shenzhen. The company said HaoHan’s minimum unit capacity of 14. 5MWh is more than double the industry norm of 6–7 MWh. When configured within a standard 20-foot container, the system delivers 10 MWh and achiev

Help us raise $200k to free JavaScript from Oracle

After more than 27,000 people signed our open letter to Oracle about the “JavaScript” trademark, we filed a formal Cancellation Petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Ten months in, we’re finally reaching the crucial discovery phase. Deno initiated this petition since we have legal standing as a JavaScript runtime, but it’s really on behalf of all developers. If we win, “JavaScript” becomes public domain – free for all developers, conferences, book authors, and companies to use witho

An untidy history of AI across four books

The history of artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be separated entirely from the general development of technologies that go back to the ancient world. Like the abacus, the machines we today call AI reproduce and automate our formal and cognitive abilities, albeit at higher levels of generality. More officially, AI research began in the postwar era with the “symbolic” paradigm, which sought to program human faculties such as logic, knowledge, ontology, and semantics within software architecture

10 Best Smartwatches (2025): Apple, Wear OS, Hybrid & Kids’ Watches

Other Smartwatches to Consider The number of smartwatches on the market is staggering. I’ve tested models from Tag Heuer, Citizen, Montblanc, and many other fashion brands, but most of them are simply too expensive for what you get. Here are a few options I like. Apple Watch Series 10 Photograph: Adrienne So Apple Watch Series 10 for $364: Thanks to watchOS 26, the 2024 Series 10 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has many of the same features as the new Series 11, like hypertension notifications and S

I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro Max with the iPhone Air - here's my buying advice now

Apple iPhone Air ZDNET's key takeaways The thinnest and lightest iPhone yet offers Pro performance at a competitive $999 price point. It's designed to feel burdenless, and that's the biggest reason to buy one over the iPhone 17 series. You'll just have to settle for only one camera, average battery life, and a single-firing speaker. View now at Apple View now at Best Buy View now at Verizon more buying choices Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. The iPhone "Pro" label has a

Topics: 17 air camera iphone pro

Want Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses? You have to book a demo first - and they are going fast

Here's pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses and Neural Band in the Sand color. Kerry Wan/ZDNET Meta officially unveiled its first AI smart glasses with a built-in screen, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, at Meta Connect 2025. The company also revealed that the glasses will be available to purchase starting on September 30. However, if you want to buy a pair of the $799 smart glasses, you can't just pre-order them online. Instead you'll have to book a demo at one of Meta's retail partners such as Best

The Actual Thing People Are Excited About for ‘Tron: Ares’ Is Here

In the music community, Fridays are known for new song releases, and this Friday is no exception. In fact, today marks the release of Nine Inch Nails’ soundtrack for Tron: Ares, an album that has inarguably generated considerably more hype than the Jared Leto-led film itself. In tandem with the release of the Tron: Ares original motion picture soundtrack on streaming platforms as well as the band’s official YouTube channel, Disney released a featurette promoting the film. The featurette include

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) Hands-On: You Can Forget About Gen 1 Now

Smart glasses with displays in them may be the future, but for now, Meta seems to understand that not everyone is willing to spend $800 on a pair. And for those people, it now has Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2), a sequel to its surprisingly popular AI and camera-equipped smart glasses, which are designed in tandem with EssilorLuxottica, the owner of the eyewear brand. I already have a pair of the $379 second-gen glasses, which were announced at Meta Connect this week, and while I haven’t had a chance to

Topics: ban gen glasses meta ray

Steam will wind down support for 32-bit Windows as that version of Windows fades

Valve's Steam client is pretty widely compatible with all kinds of newer and older operating systems—that's what you do when you want as many people as possible spending their money in your store. But nothing lasts forever, and Valve does eventually end support for old software when it's time to move on. The company announced in a support note today that it would be ending Steam client support for 32-bit versions of Windows on January 1, 2026. "Existing Steam Client installations will continue

10 Best Smartwatches (2025): Apple, Wear OS, Hybrid & Kids' Watches

Other Smartwatches to Consider The number of smartwatches on the market is staggering. I’ve tested models from Tag Heuer, Citizen, Montblanc, and many other fashion brands, but most of them are simply too expensive for what you get. Here are a few options I like. Apple Watch Series 10 Photograph: Adrienne So Apple Watch Series 10 for $364: Thanks to watchOS 26, the 2024 Series 10 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has many of the same features as the new Series 11, like hypertension notifications and S

Ugreen’s new super slim wallet tracker has 5 years of battery life

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Ugreen has released a new wallet tracker that’s just as thin as the FineTrack Slim Smart Finder the company debuted earlier this year, but with a massive boost in battery life from 12 months to five years. However, while the previous version was compatible with Apple’s Find My network and recharable, the new FineTrack Slim Smart G only works with

This underwater action cam captured my Hawaii trip in ways I didn't think possible

Insta360 X5 waterproof action camera ZDNET's key takeaways The Insta360 is the premier camera for shooting underwater footage, for $549 on Amazon. Diving accessories such as the Invisible Dive Case and Floating Hand Grip ensure your X5 stays safe in the water. I had some pairing issues while on a dive. View now at Amazon I recently spent a week in Hawaii for my daughter's wedding, and captured some fantastic underwater video with the Insta360 X5. I went snorkeling with manta rays, explored th

I tested the iPhone Air, and it reminded me of my old iPhone 6 Plus in the best way

Apple iPhone Air ZDNET's key takeaways The thinnest and lightest iPhone yet offers Pro performance at a competitive $999 price point. It's designed to feel burdenless, and that's the biggest reason to buy one over the iPhone 17 series. You'll just have to settle for only one camera, average battery life, and a single-firing speaker. View now at Apple View now at Best Buy View now at Verizon more buying choices Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. The iPhone "Pro" label has a

Topics: 17 air camera iphone pro

Football Manager 26 will feature women’s soccer for the first time

The upcoming Football Manager 26 will include the officially licensed Barclays Women’s Super League and National Women’s Soccer League, among other women's competitions, marking the first time that women’s soccer has featured in the long-running management sim. This means you’ll be able to select a women’s team to manage, complete with accurate player imagery, club logos and kits. The debut of women’s soccer was actually announced way back in 2021, and was supposed to feature in Football Manage

Known. Emerging. Unstoppable? Ransomware Attacks Still Evade Defenses

No, it's not new or particularly exotic, but after years of attacks, ransomware continues to rank among the most destructive threats facing global organizations today. Even with security teams pouring significant resources into prevention and detection efforts, attackers are still finding ways to bypass their defenses. Double extortion has become the default approach, with groups encrypting systems and stealing sensitive data for leverage. Some actors are now skipping the encryption step entir