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Paramount Skydance is preparing to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, placing CEO David Ellison in control of major entertainment brands including HBO, HBO Max and Paramount+. Both companies have undergone repeated name and platform changes in recent years, from Warner Media to WBD and from Paramount+ rebrands, reflecting ongoing restructuring across the industry.
Emma Waters, 28, joined the Heritage Foundation in 2022 as an analyst covering reproductive and fertility technology, writing policy briefs and op-eds and advising lawmakers on issues like embryo screening, IVF and surrogacy. In 2023 she appeared on Fox News warning that Chinese-linked surrogacy arrangements using American surrogates posed a national security risk, well before mainstream outlets covered the topic.
Raspberry Pi has confirmed its firmware locks boards to their factory RAM configuration, preventing users from swapping in replacement memory chips even to fix failed components. The restriction surfaced after a user couldn't get a Compute Module 5 to recognize a new 4GB chip, with company engineer PhilE explaining the firmware checks additional memory attributes beyond just capacity. Raspberry Pi says the policy exists to stop resellers from installing unauthorized higher-capacity chips and passing modified boards off as factory models.
McDonald's has begun a limited test showing third-party brand advertisements on digital drive-thru menu boards after customers place their orders, according to Bloomberg. The ads appear during the wait period before customers receive their food, and the pilot is currently confined to company-owned restaurants.
Remedy's Control Resonant is a sequel to 2019's Control, playable in any order, set in a warped, gravity-bending open-world version of Manhattan rather than the original's Oldest House. Players control Dylan Faden, brother of original protagonist Jesse, wielding a shapeshifting melee weapon as he fights the Hiss and searches for his missing sister.
CEPI, a nonprofit focused on epidemic preparedness, says the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has infected more than 7,000 people since May, with roughly half dying, per WHO-compiled government data. The group shifted $100 million to fund vaccine development, including doses from the Serum Institute of India based on Oxford's ChAdOx1 BDBV candidate, alongside a Moderna candidate, both now in safety trials with efficacy trials expected this month.
Android Authority compared selfie shots from three phones with under-display cameras—the REDMAGIC 11 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Redmi Note 17 Pro Max—against the backdrop of Apple's iPhone Duo foldable, which uses an under-display selfie camera for the first time. The tester found the REDMAGIC's photos oversharpened and smeared detail, while the Z Fold 8 produced more natural results despite a lower megapixel count, and the Redmi phone showed splotchy textures despite its 32MP sensor.
Kiwibit's latest smart bird feeder, the Feeder 2 Pro, introduces a redesigned camera with phase detection autofocus and 4K HDR video, a notable upgrade from prior models. Basic camera quality works without a subscription, but features like AI bird identification, 60-day cloud storage, and gallery/report views require the $90-a-year Kiwibit Plus plan, while local microSD storage up to 512GB remains supported.
Android Authority found Spotify developing a 'Cache Limit' feature for its Android app, letting users set a maximum size for the app's temporary storage cache. The tool would warn that smaller limits increase mobile data use and could affect playback, while suggesting a default size for balance. Downloaded music and podcasts stored offline would remain unaffected by this cache limit.
An analysis argues that the cost of running machine learning models is dropping by orders of magnitude annually, driven by GPU efficiency gains that double roughly every two years—a pace not seen since early Moore's Law. The piece distinguishes proprietary models like GPT-6 Astra from open-weight models such as GLM-5.3-flash, noting that hosted and locally-run versions improve at different rates, with per-token pricing for frontier models not falling as consistently as costs for smaller models.
Microsoft has published a patent application titled "Contextually Aware Management of Interactive Software Application Access," describing a system that uses signals from a game engine to insert ads at natural pause points like boss fights, loading screens, or cutscene transitions. The system would display a video or static ad and reset a timer before searching for the next opportunity to interrupt gameplay. Microsoft has not confirmed whether or when this system will be implemented in actual games.
Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into Aylo, the owner of Pornhub, to determine whether the site's age verification system—introduced in May and reliant on Apple's third-party checks—actually prevents children from accessing pornography. The regulator says it has concerns Aylo may not have carried out sufficient testing before rolling out the process, which could breach the UK's Online Safety Act requirement for 'highly effective' age assurance.