The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has partnered with SAE International on a new initiative called ASCEND, aimed at creating standardized, data-driven performance benchmarks for automated driving systems. The effort comes as regulators grapple with vehicles like the Tesla Cybercab and Zoox robotaxi, which lack pedals, steering wheels, and mirrors required under existing federal vehicle safety rules. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the goal is to build a framework that prioritizes safety without forcing the agency into reactive, case-by-case policymaking.
A UX designer describes an eight-week collaboration with Raph Koster, author of 'A Theory of Fun,' to study how video game design principles could inform app UX beyond traditional gamification tactics like achievements. The piece explores the initial tension between game design's use of 'juicy' visual feedback and tension-building mechanics versus UX design's typical goal of minimalism and simplicity.
Smart TVs still rely on remote controls, and many now support using a smartphone as a substitute via built-in IR blasters or app-based connectivity. Certain Android phones have infrared hardware and pre-installed universal remote apps that let users pair with their TV brand and control power, volume, and navigation. Devices from Apple, Samsung, and Google lack this IR hardware, but alternative software-based remote options exist for those users.
A commentator argues that instead of obsessing over crafting the perfect text prompts for LLMs, developers should build interlocking evaluation and optimization pipelines that use additional AI systems to manage and refine model behavior. The piece contends that treating prompts as meaningful language leads people to mistakenly attribute intent or consciousness to systems that have neither.
A developer has demonstrated Laya, referred to as 'OS Jev', running fully offline on Apple's M4 chip using Apple's CoreML framework. The system reportedly processes 45 decisions per second locally, without needing a cloud connection or internet access.
A hobbyist repurposed an aging Zotac MAGNUS EN1070K mini-PC, originally a media-center rig, into a home NAS to escape cloud storage nagging from Google and other providers. The build uses a 3D-printed enclosure extension, a six-bay ICY Dock drive cage, a Pico PSU powered off the machine's original brick, and an ASM1166 SATA adapter in the M.2 slot to support six drives alongside a 1 TB boot SSD.
Sonos has outlined its official process for setting up speakers using the Sonos smartphone app, available on both the App Store and Google Play. Users must create an account, connect their speaker and device to the same Wi-Fi network, then follow in-app prompts to name the speaker's room and add further devices later through the settings menu.
Physicist John Wheeler proposed to Richard Feynman in a 1940 phone call that every electron and positron in existence could be a single particle tracing a tangled path back and forth through time. Sections of this path moving forward in time appear as electrons, while sections looping backward appear as positrons. Physicist E. C. G. Stueckelberg independently arrived at a similar concept around the same period.
OpenAI runs an advertising collector at bzr.openai.com that sets a persistent, account-linked cookie called __obi on the openai.com domain. When companies that advertise on ChatGPT embed OpenAI's tracking code on their own websites, that cookie is transmitted back to OpenAI along with details of the page being viewed, including products searched, articles read and purchases made. A security researcher says they reproduced the mechanism on their own device and found it active across 936 advertiser pixels spanning 1,029 hostnames.
Singapore's National Library Board began ReadSG on September 6, 2026, a five-year effort that pays people small amounts to read. Logging 15 minutes of reading on GovTech's CrowdTaskSG platform earns 20 virtual coins, with 1,000 coins worth S$1, capped at one session per day. A companion effort, Read for Good, tracks total reading minutes across all participants and pledges up to S$150,000 to charity if 7.5 million cumulative minutes are logged.
Pirate Face is a new decentralized, peer-to-peer network that converts open-source AI models from Hugging Face into checksum-verified torrents, distributed across a global swarm of seeders. The system aims to keep open models permanently accessible even if their original host removes them. Users can browse and download without an account, though creators can claim handles and verify their identity to earn a badge and prevent impersonation.
Dell's new Pro 7 webcam captures 4K video at up to 60fps and adds Windows Hello support, presence detection, and dual beam-forming microphones that reviewers say outperform typical webcam audio. Priced at $199.99, it competes directly with premium rivals like the Logitech MX Brio and Insta360 Link 2 4K.
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