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The Most Amazing Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Day 4

The cosplay at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 truly brought out the best in fandom, encompassing the love fans have for their favorite icons. From the latest pop culture hits, including several Huntrix and Saja Boys members from K-Pop Demon Hunters, to creative Star Wars looks (Sith Dog!), and, of course, a hearty dose of Marvel heroes, it was a pantheon of geekdom. Take a look at our last batch from over the weekend of our favorite cosplay! And catch up here for Day One, Day Two, and Day Three. An

Microsoft Edge is now an AI browser with launch of ‘Copilot Mode’

With demand for AI-powered browsers on the rise, Microsoft on Monday launched a new feature in its Edge browser called Copilot Mode, which allows users to browse the web while being assisted by AI. The idea is that the AI can become a helper that can understand what the user is researching, predict what they want to do, and then take action on their behalf. How well it works in practice remains to be seen, but Microsoft notes that Copilot Mode is still considered an experimental feature. It’s a

Microsoft: macOS Sploitlight flaw leaks Apple Intelligence data

Attackers could use a recently patched macOS vulnerability to bypass Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) security checks and steal sensitive user information, including Apple Intelligence cached data. TCC is a security technology and a privacy framework that blocks apps from accessing private user data by providing macOS control over how their data is accessed and used by applications across Apple devices. Apple has fixed the security flaw tracked as CVE-2025-31199 (reported by Microsoft'

Microsoft wants you to chat with its browser now - but can you trust this Copilot?

Microsoft / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Microsoft's on a relentless quest to embed its Copilot AI into every software product it owns. That campaign takes another big step forward today with the addition of some new generative AI features in the company's Edge browser. Today's release beefs up the capabilities of Copilot Mode, the chat-based search interface for Edge, on Windows PCs and Macs. You can use natural voice commands to navigate pages, and the chatbot can see all the open tabs in th

Microsoft Edge transforms into an AI browser with new Copilot Mode

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft is starting to test a new experimental Copilot Mode inside its Edge browser today. The AI-powered mode allows Copilot to search across all your open tabs and handle tasks like booking a restaurant, and it brings the Copilot chatbot to your new tab page. Copilot Mode is somewhere between the limited Gemini integration that Google is testing in Chrome and the AI-powere

Microsoft starts rolling out Xbox age verification in the UK

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft is starting to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act by prompting Xbox players to verify their age today. The prompts will be shown to Xbox players who indicate they’re over the age of 18 and will be shown when you sign into an Xbox account in the UK. Microsoft says it’s also exploring bringing similar age verification tools to other countries in the future. To powe

SploitLight: Microsoft warns macOS flaw could leak Apple Intelligence metadata

Microsoft has detailed a serious macOS vulnerability that could allow malicious apps to bypass system privacy protections. Dubbed “SploitLight,” the flaw exploited how Spotlight indexes plugin data to access sensitive files and Apple Intelligence metadata. Apple addressed the issue in macOS in March, but users on older versions could be at risk. Microsoft alerted Apple to the exploit upon discovery, leading to its fix in macOS earlier this year. From Microsoft’s security blog: Microsoft Threat

What Is MicroSD Express? Everything You Need to Know

I got my Nintendo Switch 2, and my internal storage is already filling up with all my old games and saves! If you're in the same boat, you may have also noticed you can't just jam in the SD card from your original Switch and keep rocking. Instead, you'll need a new microSD Express card. This Express standard was introduced in late 2023, and it enables write speeds in the hundreds of megabytes, but until now the cards themselves were as rare as any devices that used the standard. As a result, th

Xbox will let you play Silksong at Gamescom in August

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft will let Gamescom attendees play a demo of the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong on the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. It’s part of more than 20 titles that will be available at the Xbox booth at Gamescom, including a new theater experience to demonstrate The Outer Worlds 2. Silksong will be available to play on the new Xbox Ally devices at Gamescom, just months aft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addresses 'painful' layoffs, discusses ambitious AI plans in company memo

What just happened? Microsoft is facing one of the most turbulent phases in its history, balancing massive investments in artificial intelligence and infrastructure with significant job cuts, creating a climate of uncertainty within the company. On Thursday morning, CEO Satya Nadella addressed employees in a memo that directly acknowledged the contradictions they are experiencing. "I want to acknowledge the uncertainty and seeming incongruence of the times we're in. By every objective measure,

Privacy apps Signal, Brave, and AdGuard push back against Windows Recall

The big picture: Since its announcement last year, Windows Recall has faced mounting criticism from privacy experts who have labeled it a potential surveillance tool – despite Microsoft's assurances of airtight security. Now, some developers are taking matters into their own hands, leveraging built-in Windows features to shield users from what many advocates view as a serious intrusion into personal privacy. Signal was one of the first apps to block Windows Recall from capturing screenshots of

From Harvard to Half-Life: Gabe Newell reflects on his unconventional path to founding Valve

Why it matters: A week ago, we highlighted the surprising interview Valve co-founder Gabe Newell gave to a little-known YouTube channel, where he revealed his unconventional daily routine and passion for scuba diving. But beyond the lifestyle quirks lies a deeper, more instructive story – how a chance encounter with Steve Ballmer at Microsoft pulled Newell away from Harvard and into a 13-year tenure at the software giant. That decision not only shaped Newell's personal trajectory but also helped

I’ve tried dozens of to-do apps — these 6 clicked with me, but one’s my favorite

Megan Ellis / Android Authority I may not be that big of a productivity nerd, but I do like my things organized, and I go to great lengths to find a system that works for me. My style is that I don’t control every minute of my day — so I’m less of a calendar person and more of a to-do list guy. That’s a subtle way of saying that I’ve tried a lot of to-do apps before zeroing in on one. I have an unbeatable favorite that works perfectly for my workflow, but there are several others that are equal

Implementing dynamic scope for Fennel and Lua

I’m continuing my work on fennel-cljlib, my port of clojure.core and some other core libraries, focusing on porting missing functions and features to it. One such feature, which I sometimes miss in Lua and Fennel, is dynamic binding. The Lua VM doesn’t provide dynamic scoping as a language feature, and Fennel itself doesn’t introduce any concepts like Clojure’s Var . However, we can still implement dynamic scoping that works similarly to Clojure and other Lisps using the debug library. Most of

The ‘Predator’ Dropped In San Diego For a Surprise ‘Badlands’ Experience

Usually, activations at San Diego Comic-Con are announced at least a few weeks in advance. That gives fans an opportunity to prioritize their favorites, map them out, and then hit the ground running. This year though, one major experience seemed to join the party late. That’s Predator Badlands, which took over a huge section attached to the Hard Rock Hotel across from the convention center. Outside, security answered the questions of passersby about when the experience would open. And inside, th

OCaml Programming: Correct and Efficient and Beautiful

OCaml Programming: Correct + Efficient + Beautiful# A textbook on functional programming and data structures in OCaml, with an emphasis on semantics and software engineering. This book is the textbook for CS 3110 Data Structures and Functional Programming at Cornell University. A past title of this book was “Functional Programming in OCaml”. Spring 2025 Edition. Videos. There are over 200 YouTube videos embedded in this book. They can be watched independently of reading the book. Start with t

The Rise of Shippable Microfactories

A shippable microfactory from AUAR Nick Durham is a General Partner at Shadow Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on investing in frontier technologies for the built world. Traditionally, prefabricated construction has meant large fixed factories churning out modules or panels that get shipped to building sites. The siren song is industrial-esque economies of scale in an industry that’s long evaded affordability and efficiency. But those centralized models, made infamous by companies like

The Drifter is a good old-fashioned thriller

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Point-and-click adventure games often tell silly, lighthearted stories. For me, the mishaps of the pirate Guybrush Threepwood in the Monkey Island series come to mind. The nature of the genre — wandering around, talking to people, and trying to solve puzzles — lends itself well to humor, as every interaction with a person or object offers an opportunity for a joke. The Drifter

Gear News of the Week: Amazon Buys Bee, VSCO Has a New App, and CMF Debuts a Smartwatch

That trade-off lets the Watch 3 Pro purportedly last 13 days on a single charge, a slight bump over its predecessor (the new watch lasts 4.5 days if you have the always-on display enabled). There's a new dual-band GPS for more accurate route tracking, 131 sport modes with a personalized running coach, and a new heart-rate sensor that CMF claims is more accurate across workout intensities and skin tones. Naturally, there's a dose of “AI-powered” post-workout summaries. The CMF Watch 3 Pro can no

Microsoft investigates outage affecting Microsoft 365 admin center

Microsoft is investigating an ongoing outage blocking Microsoft 365 administrators with business or enterprise subscriptions from accessing the admin center. While the company has yet to disclose which regions are currently affected by this ongoing service degradation issue, it's currently tracking it on its official service health status page to provide impacted organizations with access to up-to-date information. "Microsoft is investigating a potential issue that may be preventing administra

Microsoft gives Copilot a face - here's how to try your new Appearance chat buddy

Microsoft Microsoft has a new experiment, called Copilot Appearance, that's designed to bring its AI assistant to life -- visually, anyway. Also: Microsoft's Copilot Vision can now see and analyze your entire Windows desktop Available now as an early preview in Copilot Labs, this feature layers real‑time facial expressions and non‑verbal cues onto Copilot's voice interactions. The goal is to make conversations with Microsoft's AI feel more natural, human‑like, and animated. What is Copilot A

The Most Amazing Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Day 1

It’s that time of year again; San Diego Comic-Con is upon us and is off to a festive start for the biggest fan party of them all. Between the convention floor bustle and the packed panels, all of nerdom comes to represent their genre favorites for the annual celebration of all things pop culture and comics. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 reigned supreme on the first night along with Toxic Avenger, and South Park but it was the fans who came decked out in their fandom’s finest who always stole the sh

These 8 Common Foods Contain Microplastics. Here How to Make Swaps

Microplastics used to sound like a distant environmental issue, but they're showing up in more places than you'd expect, including the food we eat every day. According to new research, even something as simple as chewing gum could expose you to tiny plastic particles. With something as common as chewing gum becoming a microplastic delivery system, many people are concerned about how often they're consuming the potential hidden hazard. The average person takes in between 39,000 and 52,000 microp

Time's Almost Up: Microsoft Will Delete Your Passwords on Aug. 1. What to Do ASAP

If you use Microsoft Authenticator to manage your passwords, the clock is ticking. On Aug. 1, the app won't store or manage your passwords anymore. That means you won't be able to save passwords or use two-factor authentication or auto-fill. And if the Authenticator app was your go-to password manager, you'll need to find a new one. Microsoft is moving to a login method we're becoming more familiar with: passkeys. Instead of a mix of letters, symbols and numbers, you'll use PINs, fingerprint s

Superman’s Fortress of Solitude is a Silver Age man cave inspired by nature’s beauty

is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years. James Gunn knows that most people are familiar with Superman’s origin story, which is why DC Studios’ new feature about the Man of Steel opens at a point when he has already become a world famous superhero. Instead of rehashing the tragic beats of Krypton’s destruction, the movie is punctuated with moments that show you how deeply Sup

I've Had It with Microsoft

Screenshot by the author. Photo: Microsoft . Generative AI is nothing but a con dressed up in big promises that become harder to believe with every passing month. After narrativizing chatbots and image generators into the next big thing, to such an extent that credulous governments now believe access to the technology is key to their geopolitical position in the world, tech companies can’t allow the bubble to burst. But keeping the bubble inflated costs hundreds of billions of dollars, and tha

Microsoft’s AI CEO thinks Copilot will age and ‘have a room that it lives in’

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s AI CEO, has a vision of Copilot that involves it being so highly personalized that “it will age.” Microsoft has been increasingly pushing Copilot to be a personalized AI assistant, with a big redesign last year that included a conversational voice mode. Now, Suleyman’s Microsoft AI team is launching a new Copilot virtual character that will interac

Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature is now blocked by Brave and AdGuard

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature, that automatically screenshots nearly everything on a Copilot Plus PC, is meeting resistance from app developers. Signal kicked off a trend of blocking Recall earlier this year, with AdGuard and the Brave browser now also blocking the Windows AI feature. AdGuard calls Recall a “privacy concern” in a blog post outlining why it’s blockin

Save $100 on the DJI Mic 2, still at an all-time low price

The DJI Mic 2 remains a go-to mic system for content creators. As such, it is really nice to see it on sale, and right now you can get it at its all-time low price. If you’ve been looking to improve audio capture for your podcasts, videos, and more, this is your chance. You can take it home for just $249, instead of paying the full $349 retail price. Buy the DJI Mic 2 for only $249 ($100 off) This offer is available from Woot, an Amazon-owned deals website. There is a limit of 10 units per cust

Microsoft's Satya Nadella says job cuts have been 'weighing heavily' on him

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks with Indonesia's Minister of Communication and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi, on the day of their meeting with Indonesian President Joko WIdodo, at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 30, 2024. Microsoft has laid off over 15,000 people so far in 2025. The stress of the belt-tightening has gotten to CEO Satya Nadella. "Before anything else, I want to speak to what's been weighing heavily on me, and what I know many of you are thinkin