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You may be able to buy Apple products without paying state sales tax

If you live in one of nine eligible states, you can buy a range of Apple products without paying state sales tax. The sales tax holidays take place annually, with varying dates and product eligibility, but in almost all cases you get only a few days to act … Sales tax holidays are brief periods in which states let companies sell products without adding sales tax to the total. Local sales taxes may still apply. In most cases, the ability to take advantage of them for Apple purchases is constra

Show HN: Cogency – Cognitive Architecture for AI Agents

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Google's Reverse Acquihire of Windsurf and the Future of AI Developer Tools

The reverse acquihire of Windsurf by Google is more than a corporate reshuffle. It offers a rare glimpse into the strategic realignments happening in AI-powered developer tools – a space that is powerful, promising, but still deeply unsettled. Windsurf set out with an ambitious bet: bringing “agentic” capabilities directly into the IDE. It wasn’t just about generating code snippets faster; it aimed to create a true coding partner, capable of understanding high-level intent and navigating large

Here's Everything You Need to Know About Satellite Connectivity in Phones

The words "satellite phone" probably conjure up an image of a clunky mobile monstrosity straight out of a spy thriller. These bulky and utilitarian traditional satellite phones are typically required in remote locations where cellular networks are unavailable. Nowadays, however, satellite connectivity can be found in regular smartphones too, thanks to new hardware innovations and unique partnerships with satellite network providers. They can't fully replace traditional satellite phones, but in

Show HN: VS Code extension to edit the filesystem like a text buffer

Voil View on the Visual Studio Marketplace. Youtube video showing voil features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_L0c7rcYLs&t=5s. Edit file system like a text buffer (similar to oil.nvim). Create new files/directories by typing their names in the editor (names ending with / are treated as directories). Convert your existing text-editing skills to file system manipulation skills, as opposed of the vscode's default file explorer which requires mouse interaction or memorizing new keybinds (and

Meta built its AI reputation on openness — that may be changing

Top members of Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab discussed pivoting away from the company’s powerful open source AI model, Behemoth, and instead developing a closed model, reports The New York Times. Sources told The Times that Meta had completed training on Behemoth, but delayed its release due to underwhelming internal performance. When the new Superintelligence Lab launched, testing on the model reportedly halted. The discussions are just that — discussions. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would st

Amazon launches Kiro, its own Claude-powered challenger to Windsurf and Codex

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Amid the big news that Windsurf is being acquired by Cognition (after its founders went to Google), developers interested in AI-powered coding may be on the hunt for new alternatives. In a bit of fortuitous timing, today also saw Amazon’s release of Kiro, a new agentic integrated development environment (IDE) built to help developers move

Tim Cook’s run as Apple CEO could be much longer than you think

How long will Tim Cook stay Apple’s CEO? The question has come up often, but a new report indicates any big leadership transition is likely a lot farther off than you might expect. No internal signs of Cook preparing to retire or find successor, per Bloomberg Last week Apple announced that long-time COO Jeff Williams was leaving. Williams is the latest in a string of high-profile leaders transitioning out of the company in recent years, which often leads to speculation about CEO Tim Cook. Bu

Context Rot: How increasing input tokens impacts LLM performance

Recent developments in LLMs show a trend toward longer context windows, with the input token count of the latest models reaching the millions. Because these models achieve near-perfect scores on widely adopted benchmarks like Needle in a Haystack (NIAH) [1], it’s often assumed that their performance is uniform across long-context tasks. However, NIAH is fundamentally a simple retrieval task, in which a known sentence (the “needle”) is placed in a long document of unrelated text (the “haystack”)

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 15, #1487

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Z Fold 6: Slimmer Body, Bigger Screens and Slightly Higher Price

At Samsung Unpacked in July, the phonemaker introduced its most advanced foldable yet: the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It supersedes last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 with upgrades big and small (or rather, big and thin), but how exactly do they compare? Here's the Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 6 specs comparison. Samsung has been releasing foldable phones for over half a decade now since the initial Galaxy Fold (no "Z" back then) launched in 2019, and the company has gotten pretty good at the newer smartph

Going off-grid? Leave your flagship at home and take this $300 Android instead. Here's why

ZDNET's key takeaways The Oukitel WP56 is now available for $300 on the official site. It's a mid-range phone that performs above its price point, with impressive battery life and durability. Like most Oukitel phones, the WP56 is particularly heavy and bulky. View now at Oukitel Let me set the stage for you. You're out in the wilderness. Maybe you're working on a job site, or you've taken your Jeep for some off-road action. The terrain and the weather are rough, and you might not have the me

M.2 SSD Can Self-Destruct by Giving Itself a Burst of Voltage

Worried your data could fall into the wrong hands? A company has developed an M.2 SSD storage drive that can self-destruct by frying its own memory. The product, the P250Q Self-Destruct SSD, is engineered to instantly wipe its memory at the push of a button —either through a software-based erasure or a hardware method that's supposed to physically destroy the flash chip. The product comes from the Taiwanese memory vendor Team Group, which is marketing the SSD to customers working in sensitive

Topics: based group self ssd team

OpenAI Hits Pause on Its Meta Killer

OpenAI is delaying the release of its much-anticipated open-weight AI model, citing the need for “additional safety tests” and last-minute concerns over “high-risk areas,” CEO Sam Altman announced on X (formerly Twitter). The decision lands in the middle of a brutal AI arms race, particularly with Meta, which has been aggressively poaching OpenAI talent and championing open-source models like Llama 3. The model, which was slated to drop this week, would be OpenAI’s first major open-weight syste

Study finds AI tools made open source software developers 19 percent slower

When it comes to concrete use cases for large language models, AI companies love to point out the ways coders and software developers can use these models to increase their productivity and overall efficiency in creating computer code. However, a new randomized controlled trial has found that experienced open source coders became less efficient at coding-related tasks when they used current AI tools. For their study, researchers at METR (Model Evaluation and Threat Research) recruited 16 softwa

My wife and I share a car: this adapter fixed our issues connecting to Android Auto

ZDNET's key takeaways The AAWireless Two typically costs $65 and gives you wireless Android Auto support when plugged in. A new built-in button lets you quickly swap between paired devices. The companion app is almost too robust, but that's a good problem to have. $51.99 at Amazon The AAWireless Two is on sale at Amazon for $50, the lowest price we've seen for this product. Since I bought my first car three years ago, I've had the worst luck with wireless Android Auto adapters. I initially s

The Corset X-Rays of Dr Ludovic O'Followell (1908)

In 1902, shortly before Dr. Ludovic O’Followell published the first volume of Le Corset, Dr. Phillippe Maréchal, “one of the best known ladies’ doctors in Paris”, proposed a law banning women under the age of thirty from wearing corsets — punishable by three months imprisonment — that would force corset vendors to track the name, age, and address of all customers. As a skeptical Los Angeles Herald reporter summed up: “In short, he claims that women’s dress has caused a frightful physical deterio

Xbox Ally Gaming Handheld Price Could Be Higher Than Expected, Leak Suggests

The ROG Xbox Ally handheld gaming device from Asus and Microsoft debuted last month, and there were a lot of questions about the new portable. The big question about price might have been answered by a leak, and it looks like this handheld won't be cheap. A Google search screenshot showed a listing for the Xbox Ally and upgraded Ally X at 599 and 899 euros, as first spotted by Spanish gaming site 3DJuegos on Sunday and reported by Insider Gaming. This would put the Xbox Ally at approximately $7

Secretive Chinese Satellite Emerges in Surprising Orbit After 6-Day Vanishing Act

Nearly a week after launch, space tracking systems were able to locate a mysterious satellite parked in an unusually low orbit. China launched the experimental satellite to test new technologies, but it’s still unclear exactly what it’s doing in its unique inclination. Shiyan-28B 01 launched on July 3 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, riding on board a Long March 4C rocket. The satellite is part of China’s experimental Shiyan series, reportedly designed for exploration of the space envi

Google Will Merge Android and ChromeOS, Exec Says. That's Taking a Page Out of the Apple Playbook

In a move that could make life easier for folks using devices based on its operating systems, Google will eventually unify Android and ChromeOS, according to a high-ranking Google executive. Merging the systems could have positive outcomes for customers using, say, a Chromebook and an Android cellphone, much like Apple users have seamless functioning among MacBooks, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. "We're going to be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform, and I am very interes

Rocket Lab stock jumps 8%, building on strong two-month rally

An Electron rocket launches the Baby Come Back mission from New Zealand on July 17, 2023. Rocket Lab stock soared 8% Monday, building on a strong run fueled by space innovation. Shares of the space infrastructure company have nearly doubled over the last two months following a slew of successful launches and a deal with the European Union. The stock is up 63% year to date after surging nearly sixfold in 2024. Last month, Rocket Lab announced a partnership with the European Space Agency to la

Pixel 10 Pro Fold may not be skinny, but it might have a larger battery

TL;DR The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is expected to have a slightly larger cover display. Google may have also increased the Fold’s battery capacity. The foldable should have a Tensor G5 chip with 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options. Recently, there has been a growing number of Pixel 10 series leaks as we inch closer to the eventual launch date. However, there isn’t nearly as much information about Google’s next foldable as there is about the rest of Pixel 10 family. That gets correc

Coding with AI? My top 5 tips for vetting its output - and staying out of trouble

filo / Getty Images Our story begins, as many stories do, with a man and his AI. The man, like many men, is a bit of a geek and a bit of a programmer. He also needs a haircut. The AI is the culmination of thousands of years of human advancement, all put to the service of making the man's life a little easier. The man, of course, is me. I'm that guy. Also: The best AI for coding in 2025 (and what not to use) Unfortunately, while AI can be incredibly brilliant, it also has a propensity to lie,

Topics: ai chatgpt help time use

AI slows down open source developers. Peter Naur can teach us why

AI slows down open source developers. Peter Naur can teach us why. AI slows down open source developers. Peter Naur can teach us why. Metr recently published a paper about the impact AI tools have on open-source developer productivity1. They show that when open source developers working in codebases that they are deeply familiar with use AI tools to complete a task, then they take longer to complete that task compared to other tasks where they are barred from using AI tools. Interestingly the

Google Will Merge Android and ChromeOS, Exec Says. That's Taking a Page out of the Apple Playbook

In a move that could make life easier for folks using devices based on its operating systems, Google will eventually unify Android and ChromeOS, according to a high-ranking Google executive. Merging the systems could have positive outcomes for customers using, say, a Chromebook and an Android cellphone, much like Apple users have seamless functioning among MacBooks, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. "We're going to be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform, and I am very interes

Evidence Grows That Tripping on Shrooms Might Increase Your Lifespan

Image by JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images Studies In a new study, scientists have uncovered evidence that magic mushrooms just might be an effective anti-aging treatment. Published in the Nature Partnering Journal Aging, a new paper by researchers at Emory and Baylor's medical schools suggests that psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms — there are a range of species that produce it, but the best known is probably Pisolocybe cubensis — might extend the lifespans of both mi

xAI starts offering Grok to US government agencies

Just days after apologizing for Grok's recent hard turn toward antisemitism, xAI has announced a suite of AI products for government use. Grok for Government brings together the company's latest commercial products, including Grok 4 and Deep Search, with special considerations given to the needs of federal, state and local agencies. To that end, xAI says it will design custom models for specific national security and research customers. It will also develop specialized AI applications for use i

I replaced my Ring doorbell with this subscription-free option - with one concern

ZDNET's key takeaways The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi video doorbell is available for $189. The doorbell comes in wired and wireless installations, communicates reliably, and includes a preinstalled 32GB microSD card for local storage to bypass subscription fees. Although it has a 2K resolution, the image is so wide angle that objects look distorted. $199.99 at Amazon Video doorbells are among the best ways to start your smart home journey. They are easy to use and often easy to install, and provide much-

This Dell laptop is my top choice for both work and travel - and it's on sale for $420 off

ZDNET's key takeaways Prices for the Dell 14 Plus currently start at $1,099 During a time of economic turmoil, this laptop is a lifeline, providing next-gen performance at an affordable price However, don't expect too much from its display, as it's no OLED or 4K panel. View now at Dell View now at Micro Center more buying choices Every configuration of the Dell 14 Plus is on sale. You can get the base model is $680, a $420 discount. Back in early 2025, Dell made a bold move. The company anno

Why random selection is necessary to create stable meritocratic institutions

Campbell's Law (a variant of Goodhart's Law) states that the more a metric is used for social decision-making, the more it will be subject to corruption which distorts and corrupts not only the metric itself, but the very social processes it was meant to measure. Selection criteria for a position of authority are one example of such a metric. When selection criteria are opaque, it is difficult for them to become a target, preserving their utility as measures. For governance positions however, it