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US national debt reaches a record $37T, the Treasury Department reports

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, a record number that highlights the accelerating debt on America’s balance sheet and increased cost pressures on taxpayers. The $37 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report issued Tuesday which logs the nation’s daily finances. The national debt eclipsed $37 trillion years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office’s January 2020 projections had gross fede

Rerank-2.5 and rerank-2.5-lite: instruction-following rerankers

TL;DR – We are excited to introduce the rerank-2.5 series, which significantly improves upon rerank-2 ’s performance while also introducing instruction-following capabilities for the first time. On our standard suite of 93 retrieval datasets spanning multiple domains, rerank-2.5 and rerank-2.5-lite improve retrieval accuracy by 7.94% and 7.16% over Cohere Rerank v3.5. Furthermore, the new instruction-following feature allows users to steer the model’s output relevance scores using natural langua

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 14, #795

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Today's NYT Connections puzzle has some fun categories. Been to any weddings this summer? If so, you might ace the blue group. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to recei

Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 14, #325

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition has four logos in it, but never fear, the Times wouldn't make it so easy that they are all in the same category. One trick I'm passing along: Memorize some of the unusual team names in the various sports leagues, like Dream or Storm or Wild. Those words show

Here’s everything new for Apple’s Photos app in iOS 26

Apple’s Photos app received a major overhaul last year, and iOS 26 brings a handful of new changes. Here’s everything new coming to the Photos app in iOS 26. New Liquid Glass design One of the biggest changes impacting all Apple apps this year is iOS 26’s new ‘Liquid Glass’ design. In the Photos app specifically, you’ll see Liquid Glass UI elements everywhere from the buttons and navigation tabs to popup menus and more. Since your photos and videos remain the visual focus of the app, Photos’

Fortinet warns of FortiSIEM pre-auth RCE flaw with exploit in the wild

Fortinet is warning about a remote unauthenticated command injection flaw in FortiSIEM that has in-the-wild exploit code, making it critical for admins to apply the latest security updates. FortiSIEM is a central security monitoring and analytics system used for logging, network telemetry, and security incident alerts, serving as an integral part of security operation centers, where it's an essential tool in the hands of IT ops teams and analysts. The product is generally used by governments,

PCIe 8.0 announced by the PCI-Sig will double throughput again

The PCI-SIG announced this week that it is not going to stop. Targeting a 2028 release, the PCIe 8.0 specification will double the throughput over PCIe 7.0. With the release, the PCI-SIG also shared two neat charts. PCIe Gen8 Announced by the PCI-SIG Will Double Throughput Again The PCI-SIG has this graphic to show what is happening to I/O bandwidth. It says that the I/O bandwidth is doubling every three years. Something to also keep in mind is that this is very device and interface centric.

Illinois bans use of artificial intelligence for mental health therapy

Illinois last week banned the use of artificial intelligence in mental health therapy, joining a small group of states regulating the emerging use of AI-powered chatbots for emotional support and advice. Licensed therapists in Illinois are now forbidden from using AI to make treatment decisions or communicate with clients, though they can still use AI for administrative tasks. Companies are also not allowed to offer AI-powered therapy services — or advertise chatbots as therapy tools — without t

Microplastics are everywhere — including in the air around plastic treaty negotiations

is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home , a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Thousands of delegates have descended upon Geneva this week for what’s supposed to be the culmination of years of negotiations that, if successful, are supposed to end in a groundbreaking

Waymo finally has a music experience worthy of its robotaxi

I’m riding in the back of a Waymo that’s autonomously navigating the busy streets of San Francisco with relative ease thanks to 29 external cameras, six radar, and five lidar sensors all feeding into an AI model. For just 15 bucks, I get to experience what feels like a miracle of modern technology, and yet, there’s a nagging thought I can’t shake. The music sucks in here. Waymo’s music-streaming feature has felt like an aged barnacle attached to a futuristic shell. Until this week, passengers

New downgrade attack can bypass FIDO auth in Microsoft Entra ID

Security researchers have created a new FIDO downgrade attack against Microsoft Entra ID that tricks users into authenticating with weaker login methods, making them susceptible to phishing and session hijacking. These weaker login channels are vulnerable to adversary-in-the-middle phishing attacks that employ tools like Evilginx, enabling attackers to snatch valid session cookies and hijack the accounts. Although the attack doesn't prove a vulnerability in FIDO itself, it shows that the syste

I found a 36-in-1 multitool that absolutely belongs in your kitchen drawer - here's why

Kelvin Tools 36-in-1 Multitool ZDNET's key takeaways A strange-looking multitool that looks rather Fisher-Price but is actually very good. It has everything from screwdriver bits to a hammer and tape measure! Looks bulky, but it is actually rather ergonomic in use! $79.99 at Amazon $79.99 at Walmart more buying choices I have... wait, let me just have a look around me... countless multitools. They're something I've been buying and using since I got my first fake Swiss Army Knife at about seve

New downgrade attack can bypass FIDO auth in Microsoft Entra ID

Security researchers have created a new FIDO downgrade attack against Microsoft Entra ID that tricks users into authenticating with weaker login methods, making them susceptible to phishing and session hijacking. These weaker login channels are vulnerable to adversary-in-the-middle phishing attacks that employ tools like Evilginx, enabling attackers to snatch valid session cookies and hijack the accounts. Although the attack doesn't prove a vulnerability in FIDO itself, it shows that the syste

rerank-2.5 and rerank-2.5-lite: instruction-following rerankers

TL;DR – We are excited to introduce the rerank-2.5 series, which significantly improves upon rerank-2 ’s performance while also introducing instruction-following capabilities for the first time. On our standard suite of 93 retrieval datasets spanning multiple domains, rerank-2.5 and rerank-2.5-lite improve retrieval accuracy by 7.94% and 7.16% over Cohere Rerank v3.5. Furthermore, the new instruction-following feature allows users to steer the model’s output relevance scores using natural langua

Nginx introduces native support for ACME protocol

We are very excited to announce the preview release of ACME support in NGINX. The implementation introduces a new module ngx_http_acme_module that provides built-in directives for requesting, installing, and renewing certificates directly from NGINX configuration. The ACME support leverages our NGINX-Rust SDK and is available as a Rust-based dynamic module for both NGINX Open Source users as well as enterprise NGINX One customers using NGINX Plus. NGINX’s native support for ACME brings a variet

Another Pixel 10 leak points to wireless Qi2 charging

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. We’re just one week away from Google’s Pixel 10 launch event, but the steady stream of leaks shows no sign of stopping. Now, new leaked images shared by Dutch outlet NieuweMobiel show what looks like Google’s rumored “Pixelsnap” cases with a ring in the center,

Google will help you pester your friends into turning location sharing on (APK teardown)

TL;DR Google’s Find Hub combines resources for tracking devices and sharing location with friends and family. Users need to positively consent first before their location is shared with anyone. The app is working to build an easy way for you to request your friends grant that access. Smartphones are picking up new features and abilities all the time, and while some of those are pushed out to us enabled by default, others are going to require us to make the intentional choice to opt in. And wh

Your iPhone has a secret in-car feature that's seriously underutilized - here's how to access it

Lance Whitney/ZDNET I've always had a mixed experience with motion sickness. I don't suffer from it on a plane or ship, thankfully. But put me in the back seat of a car, and I often get hit by a bad case of it, especially if the ride is twisty and turny. Triggered by mixed signals across your eyes, inner ear, and brain, those feelings of dizziness and queasiness can be extremely uncomfortable. For anyone else who experiences motion sickness, you can turn to your iPhone for help. Also: Install

PYX: The next step in Python packaging

A Python-native package registry from the creators of uv. Fast Speed up installs from PyPI, PyTorch, and your own private sources with optimized artifacts and uv-native metadata APIs. An order of magnitude faster than other private registries. Secure Create dedicated index URLs to filter packages by popularity, age, vulnerabilities, and more. Encode your own compliance rules and ensure reproducible builds on the server. Modern A singular focus on Python means best-in-class support for cutting

PCIe 8.0 Announced by the PCI-Sig Will Double Throughput Again – ServeTheHome

The PCI-SIG announced this week that it is not going to stop. Targeting a 2028 release, the PCIe 8.0 specification will double the throughput over PCIe 7.0. With the release, the PCI-SIG also shared two neat charts. PCIe Gen8 Announced by the PCI-SIG Will Double Throughput Again The PCI-SIG has this graphic to show what is happening to I/O bandwidth. It says that the I/O bandwidth is doubling every three years. Something to also keep in mind is that this is very device and interface centric.

29 years later, Settlers II gets Amiga release

Perhaps one of the greatest strategy games of the 16-bit era, The Settlers, did not get a sequel on Amiga. So, when The Settlers II came out in 1996, only MS-DOS and Mac OS enjoyed it. Aside from a release for Nintendo Wii in 2007, it didn’t land on any other platforms. So, what about the Amiga? Well, amazing news has just dropped: The Settlers II Gold Edition (the 1997 edition) is coming to the Amiga in October 2025. The legendary construction strategy classic finally comes to the Amiga! In 1

Monarch Butterflies Are Losing Their Navigational Abilities. You Can Guess Why

Each fall, millions of eastern North American monarch butterflies migrate up to 3,000 miles south to the mountains of central Mexico, then return to their northern range in the spring. These winged insects rely on a complex navigation system to go to and from their overwintering sites, and new research suggests climate change may be messing with it. Monarch butterflies have two distinct biological “compasses.” The primary one infers direction based on their circadian rhythm and the position of

Data Brokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google

United States senator Maggie Hassan is pressing major data brokers after an investigation by The Markup/CalMatters and copublished by WIRED found at least 35 firms hid opt-out information from search results, making it harder for people to take control of their own data and safeguard their privacy online. Hassan, the top Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, put five of the top firms—IQVIA Digital, Comscore, Telesign Corporation, 6sense Insights, and Findem—on notice Wednesday, demanding th

Doctors Using AI Quickly Lose Ability to Spot Cancer, Study Finds

Image by Getty / Futurism Studies For years now, AI cancer detection has been touted as being as good as or better than doctors — but given the results of a recent trial, for some doctors, AI seems to have greatly hampered their abilities instead. In a new study published in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, researchers led by the Medical University of Silesia in Poland found, upon surveying 19 doctors from four endoscopy practices between September 2021 and March 2022, t

Here's the final design of the Pebble Time 2 e-paper smartwatch

Pebble creator Eric Migicovsky and his new company, Core Designs, have been beavering away on new e-paper smartwatches and the team has just revealed the final design of the higher-end model. The Pebble Time 2 has a 1.5-inch, 64-color e-paper screen, with a touchscreen, metal frame, heart-rate monitor and (it's claimed) up to 30 days of battery life. The frame is a bit more curved than on pre-production versions of the Pebble Time 2. The top and bottom buttons on the right side are now angled r

U.S. alcohol consumption drops to a 90-year low, new poll finds

A new Gallup report reveals that only 54% of American adults reporting drinking alcohol in 2025. Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle The percentage of Americans who report drinking alcohol has hit a nearly 90-year low, according to a recent Gallup poll. The results of Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits survey, released Wednesday, revealed that only 54% of U.S. adults reported drinking alcohol in 2025. This figure represents a three-year decline from 67% in 2022, and falls below the previous record low o

Pebble Time 2* Design Reveal

[ 2025-08-13 ] TL;DR Pebble Time 2 Design reveal Available in 4 colourways Final specifications How to change your pre-order from P2D to PT2… Like what you see? You can still pre-order Pebble Time 2 for $225! First off, for those who didn’t catch the news from a few weeks ago - we’ve been able to recover the Pebble trademark! Our new watches will change from being called Core 2 Duo → Pebble 2 Duo, and Core Time 2 → Pebble Time 2. The big news today is that we’re revealing the final desig

Topics: duo order pebble pre time

A case study in bad hiring practice and how to fix it

None of this - none of it at all - is remotely relevant to the actual day-to-day job of a Head of Security Operations. Again, these are questions that cannot be answered appropriately in character-capped text fields. But beyond that, these are questions that should not - ever - be used to screen applicants. Applicants for a role where these requirements are not even remotely relevant. How Their Interview Process Works Having waded through this nonsense, your application finally gets sent. As w