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Government expands police use of facial recognition vans

Government expands police use of facial recognition vans 3 hours ago Share Save Share Save Home Office More live facial recognition (LFR) vans will be rolled out across seven police forces in England to locate suspects for crimes including sexual offences, violent assaults and homicides, the Home Office has announced. The forces will get access to 10 new vans equipped with cameras which scan the faces of people walking past and check them against a list of wanted people. The government says t

FreeBSD Scheduling on Hybrid CPUs

Scheduling on Hybrid CPUs Contact: OlivierCertner Motivation For the amd64 architecture, Intel started shipping hybrid CPUs with the rather confidential Lakefield and then more massively with Alder Lake (Gen12). Apart from some models of Alder Lake, it is now impossible to buy an Intel chip that does not have at least P (Performance) and E (Efficiency) cores. ARM first released incarnations of its big.LITTLE arrangement as soon as 2011. DynamIQ is an evolution where big and LITTLE CPUs can b

Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia

Dementias such as Alzheimer's disease are estimated to affect more than 57.4 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to almost triple to 152.8 million cases by 2050. The impacts on the individuals, families and caregivers and society at large are immense. While there are some indications that the prevalence of dementia is decreasing in Europe and North America, suggesting that it may be possible to reduce the risk of the disease at a population level, elsewhere the picture is less p

James Lovell, the steady astronaut who brought Apollo 13 home safely, has died

James Lovell, a member of humanity's first trip to the moon and commander of NASA's ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, has died at the age of 97. Lovell's death on Thursday was announced by the space agency. "NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in a statement on Friday. "Jim's character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the moon and turned a potential t

Poltergeist: File watcher with auto-rebuild for any language or build system

Poltergeist The ghost that keeps your builds fresh đŸ‘» A universal file watcher with auto-rebuild for any language or build system Poltergeist is an AI-friendly universal file-watcher that auto-detects any project and rebuilds them as soon as a file has been changed. Think npm run dev for native apps, with automatic configuration, notifications and a smart build queue. It stands on the shoulders of giants and fills the glue layer that's been missing. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Availabl

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, has died

Portrait of NASA astronaut Jim Lovell Credit: NASA The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on the passing of famed Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. He passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old. “NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from

It’s getting harder to skirt RTO policies without employers noticing

Companies are monitoring whether employees adhere to corporate return-to-office (RTO) policies and are enforcing the requirements more than they have in the past five years, according to a report that commercial real estate firm CBRE will release next week and that Ars Technica reviewed. CBRE surveyed 184 companies for its report. Among companies surveyed, 69 percent are monitoring whether employees come into the office as frequently as policy mandates. That’s an increase from 45 percent last y

Someone keeps stealing, flying, fixing and returning this man's 1958 Cessna

Jason Hong, 75, has had his 1958 Cessna Skyhawk stolen, and returned, multiple times in the last couple of months, but he and police have no idea who has been taking the colorful plane. While Jason Hong was celebrating his 75th birthday, he suddenly found himself thinking about his 1958 Cessna Skyhawk, a white and red single-engine beauty with colorful stripes that he calls his “old treasure.” He doesn’t fly it much anymore, but given the occasion he resolved to visit his plane as soon as he c

Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell has passed away

Portrait of NASA astronaut Jim Lovell Credit: NASA The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on the passing of famed Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. He passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old. “NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from

Someone keeps stealing, flying, fixing and returning this man's plane. But why?

Jason Hong, 75, has had his 1958 Cessna Skyhawk stolen, and returned, multiple times in the last couple of months, but he and police have no idea who has been taking the colorful plane. While Jason Hong was celebrating his 75th birthday, he suddenly found himself thinking about his 1958 Cessna Skyhawk, a white and red single-engine beauty with colorful stripes that he calls his “old treasure.” He doesn’t fly it much anymore, but given the occasion he resolved to visit his plane as soon as he c

iOS 26: Friends Can't Decide What to Eat? Here's How to Create a Poll in Messages

Apple released the second public beta of iOS 26 on Aug. 7, and the beta brings a new Liquid Glass design, call screening and more features to the iPhones of developers and beta testers. It also introduced a host of new features to Messages. One of the more useful features is the ability to create a poll in the messaging app. Group chats can be chaotic, and sometimes it feels like only a few people are talking. Creating a poll in a group chat is a nice way to let everyone voice their opinion on

New executive order puts all grants under political control

On Thursday, the Trump administration issued an executive order asserting political control over grant funding, including all federally supported research. The order requires that any announcement of funding opportunities be reviewed by the head of the agency or someone they designate, which means a political appointee will have the ultimate say over what areas of science the US funds. Individual grants will also require clearance from a political appointee and "must, where applicable, demonstra

New executive order puts all grants under political control

On Thursday, the Trump administration issued an executive order asserting political control over grant funding, including all federally supported research. The order requires that any announcement of funding opportunities be reviewed by the head of the agency or someone they designate, which means a political appointee will have the ultimate say over what areas of science the US funds. Individual grants will also require clearance from a political appointee and "must, where applicable, demonstra

Elon Musk Appears to Now Be the Most Hated Person in America, According to New Research

At first, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency appeared to be a joke, designed to keep the billionaire occupied as he pranced on stage next to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By late October, Musk warned that Americans would have to "endure hardship" if Trump were to win, resulting in some people being "upset." "I’ll probably need a lot of security, but it’s got to be done," he said at the time, referring to his plans to gut government agencies with the help of DOGE. Over

Italy's pizza detectives

As pizza's popularity spreads around the world, a group of top-secret agents are travelling the globe on espionage missions to determine what "real" pizza is. On a sweltering day bleached by the fearsome southern Italian sun, a group of international travellers have gathered a stone's throw from Naples' San Gennaro catacombs, named for the city's patron saint. But these visitors aren't here to venerate the ancient martyr; they've come in service of something equally important to the city's ide

Italy's Undercover Pizza Detectives

As pizza's popularity spreads around the world, a group of top-secret agents are travelling the globe on espionage missions to determine what "real" pizza is. On a sweltering day bleached by the fearsome southern Italian sun, a group of international travellers have gathered a stone's throw from Naples' San Gennaro catacombs, named for the city's patron saint. But these visitors aren't here to venerate the ancient martyr; they've come in service of something equally important to the city's ide

There Is a 100 Percent Chance That Your Body Is Deeply Contaminated With Dangerous Substances

Image by Getty / Futurism Developments The start of this year marked more than a quarter of the way through the 21st century. And though 2025 might not be full of flying cars and robot servants, there are a few sci-fi tropes that ended up panning out: novels like George Orwell's "1984," and Phillip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" are alive and well as real-world police use expansive surveillance networks to bust criminals before they even do anything wrong, while the sex robot m

Welcome to Regulator

You’ll often see tech policy reporting described as the intersection of technology and politics, and for years, that was a pretty accurate description: Silicon Valley existed independent of Washington politics, and every so often, they’d cross paths, discuss some regulatory concern, write a check, shake hands, and then go their separate ways. This is no longer the case. Tech and politics have violently crashed into each other, and the leaders from both sides are locked in an existential fight t

You Can Stay at the House From ‘Poltergeist’, and Even Have Someone Haunt You

It’s been about a year since the house from 1982’s Poltergeist went on the market for the first time, exciting horror fans who scrolled through property photos, dreamed of stacking chairs in the retro-preserved kitchen, and wondered if anything suspicious was unearthed while building that backyard pool. That was fun, but this is even better: in the grand tradition of movie-themed stays past, the Freeling home is now available for booking on Airbnb, complete with a massive old TV set broadcasting

A new database on police use of force and misconduct in California

For Immediate Release August 4, 2025 Contact: [email protected] A new database on police use of force and misconduct in California makes public 1.5 million pages of once-secret police records Public records about use of force and misconduct by California law enforcement officers — some 1.5 million pages obtained from nearly 500 law enforcement agencies — will now be searchable by the public for the first time thanks to a new database built by UC Berkeley and Stanford University and pub

Hundreds of agencies tap Atherton surveillance system for feds; Fails own rules

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A Flock license plate reader in Ladera on Nov. 9, 2023. License plate readers have been cropping up all over the Peninsula. Photo by Angela Swartz. As concern grows around federal immigration enforcement in the Trump era, the town of Atherton is sharing sensitive surveillance data with police departments that do not conform with California law and Atherton’s own policies. The town has around 50 cameras from Atlanta-based surveillance company Flock Sa

So far, only one-third of Americans have ever used AI for work

On Tuesday, The Associated Press released results from a new AP-NORC poll showing that 60 percent of US adults have used AI to search for information, while only 37 percent of all Americans have used AI for work tasks. Meanwhile, younger Americans are adopting AI tools at much higher rates across multiple categories, including brainstorming, work tasks, and companionship. The poll found AI companionship remains the least popular application overall, with just 16 percent of adults overall trying

2025 Polestar 3 drives sporty, looks sharp, can be a little annoying

Earlier this month, Ars took a look at Volvo’s latest electric vehicle. The EX90 proved to be a rather thoughtful Swedish take on the luxury SUV, albeit one that remains a rare sight on the road. But the EX90 is not the only recipe one can cook with the underlying ingredients. The ingredients in this case are from a platform called SPA2, and to extend the metaphor a bit, the kitchen is the Volvo factory in Ridgeville, South Carolina, which in addition to making a variety of midsize and larger Vo

iOS 26’s new Messages feature has political fundraisers freaking out

iOS 26 adds a new filtering system to the Messages app that tucks away messages from “Unknown Senders” into a separate tab. Punchbowl News (via Daring Fireball and Political Wire) reports that Republicans in Washington, D.C. are already freaking out about the fundraising implications of this new feature, warning that it “could cost them $25 million in fundraising revenue.” iOS 26 has political fundraisers on edge The memo was sent by the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) last we

Nemo Dagger Osmo Tent Review (2025): 2-Person Backcountry Palace

Nemo’s Osmo tents have long been WIRED favorites. The proprietary, hybrid Osmo fabric is a blend of nylon and polyester, with dual coatings (silicone on the outside, poly on the inside) that offer the weatherproofing of polyester with much of the durability of nylon. The Osmo Dagger we reviewed several years ago is still going strong. Earlier this year Nemo revamped the entire Dagger Osmo tent to be fully Bluesign compliant (previously just the fabric was). It now offers slightly more headroom,

Meta will stop running political ads in the EU

Meta will stop allowing political advertising on its platforms in the European Union as of October 2025, blaming the EU’s new "unworkable" transparency rules for what it called a "difficult decision." In a statement released by the company on Friday, Meta said the EU’s incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulations presented it with "significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties." As of early October, users on any of Meta’s platforms in the EU will

Against the censorship of adult content by payment processors

This is a furry blog, where I write about whatever interests me and sign it with my fursona’s name. I sometimes talk about furry fandom topics, but I sometimes also talk about applied cryptography. If you got a mild bit of emotional whiplash from that sentence, the best list of posts to start reading to get a feel for my usual fare is here. When one of my more technical blog posts makes it to Hacker News or Reddit, I will inevitably read some pearl-clutching comment declaring the inclusion of

Going chain-free with the Priority Apollo gravel bike

In combining a belt drive with a gravel bike, Priority Bicycles has put a smart idea into action with the Apollo Gravel. The execution is mostly there, although the Apollo is perhaps best described as a fantastic commuter bike with a solid gravel upside—as long as the road isn't too rough. The Apollo Gravel comes in both aluminum and titanium frames. I tested the $1,999 aluminum model; the titanium version retails for $3,999. The aluminum version weighs in at 24 lb (10.9 kg), about a half-pound

Meta to stop selling political ads in the EU from October

In response to the European Union’s incoming regulation of political advertising, Meta said on Friday that it will stop selling and showing political ads in the EU from October. Calling the legislation’s requirements “unworkable,” the tech giant wrote in a blog post that the law, dubbed Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA), introduces “significant, additional obligations to our processes and systems that create an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for adv

Finally, a Bluetooth tracker that's as reliable as AirTags but works for Android too

ZDNET's key takeaways The Chipolo Pop Tracker tag is small, durable, water-resistant, and loud. User-replaceable battery lasts a year. Like all third-party tags, they do not support Apple's own precision finding. $29 at Amazon For me, finder tags like the Apple AirTags have been a game changer. And that's not a word of hyperbole. They have literally saved me countless hours of hassle, headaches, and heart-wrenching frustration trying to find out where I put something down. Okay, I know if I