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Stop and clean your earbuds or headphones ASAP - here's why audio experts encourage it

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Open-Sourced AI Models May Be More Costly in the Long Run, Study Finds

As more businesses adopt AI, picking which model to go with is a major decision. While open-sourced models may seem cheaper initially, a new study warns that those savings can evaporate fast, due to the extra computing power they require. In fact, open-source AI models burn through significantly more computing resources than their closed-source rivals when performing the same tasks, according to a study published Thursday by Nous Research. The researchers tested dozens of AI models, including

Scientists Identify a New Glitch in Human Thinking

Good news, everyone! Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have coined a new term to describe our brains being dumb. In a recent study, they provide evidence for a distinct but common kind of cognitive bias—one that makes us reluctant to take the easier path in life if it means retracing our steps. The researchers have named the bias the “doubling-back aversion.” In several experiments, they found that people often refuse to choose a more efficient solution or route if it requir

I tested this fully-equipped Samsung tablet that makes the Ultra model look bad

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro ZDNET's key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro is available starting at $659 for the 128GB version, with 5G models starting at $769. It's an exceptionally rugged tablet with removable dual batteries and software updates for eight years. RAM is a bit limited at 6GB, and the included S Pen doesn't support wireless Bluetooth functions. View now at Samsung Get more in-depth ZDNET tech coverage: Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome and Chromium bro

How to clear your Android phone cache (and give it a serious speed boost)

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Angry, confused and worried about police – behind Instagram bans

Angry, confused and worried about police – behind Instagram bans 13 hours ago Share Save Graham Fraser Technology Reporter Share Save Getty Images The banning of accounts has left an emotional impact on people Instagram users have told the BBC of their confusion, fear and anger after having their accounts suspended, often for being wrongly accused by parent company Meta of breaching the platform's child sex abuse rules. For months, tens of thousands of people around the world have been compla

Is a refurbished MacBook viable in 2025? I did the math, and here's my expert advice

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET I remember when people used to scoff at refurbished tech. Buying a used phone or computer was like rolling the dice: you never knew exactly what you were getting. Well, the times certainly have changed. And, in this economy, the prices on refurbished tech are looking more and more tempting. Consumers are challenging this idea that we're all supposed to buy brand new phones and laptops every few years, and in the process, the market for refurbished tech has blown up. Also:

With waters at 32C, Mediterranean tropicalization shifts into high gear

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Marine biologists say warming is particularly acute in the eastern Mediterranean but could spread north and west. When Murat Draman went scuba diving off the coast of the southern Turkish province of Antalya and saw the temperature in the depths was pushing 30C, it didn't surprise him. "We were at a depth of 30 met

This flash drive offers military-grade protection for a budget price tag

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Plex warns users to patch security vulnerability immediately

Plex has notified some of its users on Thursday to urgently update their media servers due to a recently patched security vulnerability. The company has yet to assign a CVE-ID to track the flaw and didn't provide additional details regarding the patch, only saying that it impacts Plex Media Server versions 1.41.7.x to 1.42.0.x. Yesterday, four days after releasing security updates that addressed the mysterious security bug, Plex emailed those running affected versions to update their software

Samsung will sell you the latest Galaxy S25 model for $250 off - and the price is finally right

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

I've tested several Android tablets for work travel - why I recommend this Samsung the most

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro ZDNET's key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro is available starting at $659 for the 128GB version, with 5G models starting at $769. It's an exceptionally rugged tablet with removable dual batteries and software updates for eight years. RAM is a bit limited at 6GB, and the included S Pen doesn't support wireless Bluetooth functions. View now at Samsung Get more in-depth ZDNET tech coverage: Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome and Chromium bro

The best headphones and earbuds of 2025

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

You should clean your headphones ASAP (and the correct way to do it)

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Swiss vs. UK approach to major tranport projects

Start with the timetable So, let’s imagine the UK had done this in 2008. What might the planners have noticed? Well, first up, they'd have spotted that our major cities need more frequent and faster rail connections from suburbs to centres and that these are prevented at the moment by insufficient platform capacity in stations like Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street. So we need more station capacity in our city centres. They'd have identified that many suburban lines into

Instagram users angry and confused as Meta overturns yet more account bans

Instagram users angry and confused as Meta overturns yet more account bans 7 hours ago Share Save Graham Fraser Technology Reporter Share Save Getty Images The banning of accounts has left an emotional impact on people Instagram users have told the BBC of their confusion, fear and anger after having their accounts suspended, often for being wrongly accused by parent company Meta of breaching the platform's child sex abuse rules. For months, tens of thousands of people around the world have be

Blood pressures rise as the FDA cracks down on this wearable’s flagship feature

WHOOP TL;DR The FDA has scrutinized Whoop for a new wellness monitoring feature that has not been certified. The FDA considers the Whoop MG (Medical Grade) a medical device and should remove the Blood Pressure Insights feature until approved. Whoop claims the product is not for medical use and will not disable the feature. Wellness wearable maker Whoop, specifically one of its latest fitness bands, has drawn the ire of the FDA after it debuted a feature not approved or certified by the autho

What exactly is a GFCI outlet? 5 common household devices you shouldn't plug into one

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Snapshots of Kids Bike Jumping in the 1970s

Back in the 1970s (and before), parents didn’t stress about our health and safety as much as they do today. It’s not that they cared less – they just didn’t worry obsessively about it. It’s a far guess to say that some of the kids seen bike jumping and being bike jumped (which is the more dangerous?) are parents now – which means that they survived and can recall how less restricted, less supervised, less obsessively safety-conscious things were – and it was fine. Bike jumping and jumping over

Still use AA batteries? Save now and in the future with these rechargeable batteries deal

As much as we wish all devices came with a rechargeable battery, that’s just not the case yet. Manufacturers insist on releasing things that use AA batteries. I am not about to keep buying disposable, so I have some rechargeable AA batteries to save me some store trips, money, and headaches. If you need to get your own, here’s a really nice deal on eight SINCEHOLY Lithium AA Rechargeable Batteries, which are currently on sale for just $14.99. Buy the SINCEHOLY Lithium AA Rechargeable Batteries 8

Massive deal: The Edifier W820NB Plus headphones are too good for a mere $36.88

High-end headphones are exciting, but every time I get a pair, I feel like I am being robbed. I mean, some of the best headphones out there can cost $300-$500 or more. I simply don’t feel comfortable shelling out that much on a pair of cans. I am all about value per dollar, and yesterday, our sister site SoundGuys.com partnered with Edifier to offer an exclusive coupon on the Edifier W820NB Plus headphones. Get this: you can buy them for a mere $36.88, and they are actually pretty fabulous headp

My favorite personal safety alarm is as loud as a jackhammer, and it just got an upgrade

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

The Supreme Court lets Mississippi's social media age-verification law go into effect

The Supreme Court has decided not to weigh in on one of the many state-level age-verification laws currently being reviewed across the country. Today, the top court chose not to intervene on legislation from Mississippi about checking the ages of social media users, denying an application to vacate stay from NetChoice. The Mississippi law requires all users to verify their ages in order to use social media sites. It also places responsibility on the social networks to prevent children from acce

Bluesky: Updated Terms and Policies

Since launching Bluesky two years ago, we’ve grown tremendously. As our community has expanded, feedback on our terms of service, community guidelines, copyright, and privacy policies has surfaced opportunities to improve clarity. With more experience under our belt and an evolving regulatory landscape, we’re updating the language in our terms and policies to better explain our approach and provide more detail. For our Community Guidelines, we’re asking for input from the community. The propose

Lambdas, Nested Functions, and Blocks (2021)

I have the fortunate privilege to be part of the ISO C Standard mailing list, and recently a thread kicked off about Lambdas and what their need is in the C Community. That thread was in response to an ongoing push by Jens Gustedt’s proposal N2736, where Gustedt is building steam to put a proper function + data type into the C Standard at some point. What kicked off in that thread was a lot of talking about nested functions, blocks, statement expressions, whether we even need the ability to have

Applied Materials shares sink 10% on light forecast amid macroeconomic uncertainties

Applied Materials shares sank more than 10% in extended trading Thursday as the semiconductor equipment company provided outlook for the current quarter that came in light. Here's how Applied Materials did in its third-quarter earnings results versus LSEG consensus estimates: EPS : $2.48, adjusted, versus $2.36 estimated. : $2.48, adjusted, versus $2.36 estimated. Revenue: $7.3 billion vs $7.22 billion estimated. Applied Materials said it expects $2.11 per share in adjusted earnings in the c

Uber considers insurance payouts for delays, canceled rides, missed flights, more

Uber is inquiring select Brazilian customers on a series of new services, including multiple forms of insurance. Here are the details. Insurance may cover delays and even missed flights If you’ve ever had to cancel an Uber ride request, you know that you might have incurred a cancellation fee, which Uber says goes to the driver to make up for gas and time spent on the way to pick you up. But you’ve probably also been in the opposite situation, whether because the driver canceled halfway to pi

Lambdas, Nested Functions, and Blocks

I have the fortunate privilege to be part of the ISO C Standard mailing list, and recently a thread kicked off about Lambdas and what their need is in the C Community. That thread was in response to an ongoing push by Jens Gustedt’s proposal N2736, where Gustedt is building steam to put a proper function + data type into the C Standard at some point. What kicked off in that thread was a lot of talking about nested functions, blocks, statement expressions, whether we even need the ability to have