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A postmortem of three recent issues

Between August and early September, three infrastructure bugs intermittently degraded Claude's response quality. We've now resolved these issues and want to explain what happened. In early August, a number of users began reporting degraded responses from Claude. These initial reports were difficult to distinguish from normal variation in user feedback. By late August, the increasing frequency and persistence of these reports prompted us to open an investigation that led us to uncover three sepa

Claude Code Degradation: A postmortem of three recent issues

Between August and early September, three infrastructure bugs intermittently degraded Claude's response quality. We've now resolved these issues and want to explain what happened. In early August, a number of users began reporting degraded responses from Claude. These initial reports were difficult to distinguish from normal variation in user feedback. By late August, the increasing frequency and persistence of these reports prompted us to open an investigation that led us to uncover three sepa

Surge in networks scans targeting Cisco ASA devices raise concerns

Large network scans have been targeting Cisco ASA devices, prompting warnings from cybersecurity researchers that it could indicate an upcoming flaw in the products. GreyNoise has recorded two significant scanning spikes in late August, with up to 25,000 unique IP addresses probing ASA login portals and also Cisco IOS Telnet/SSH. The second wave, logged on August 26, 2025, was largely (80%) driven by a Brazilian botnet, using roughly 17,000 IPs. In both cases, the threat actors used overlappi

US economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, unemployment highest in 4 yrs

Economy Job market See all topics Follow The US job market is stalling out. Job growth slowed to a crawl in August, and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in nearly four years, indicating the US labor market is growing stagnant. The economy added just 22,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. August’s job report also included a downward revision to June, which showed the US economy lost 13,000 jobs that

These were the most watched Apple TV+ movies and series in August

Every month, JustWatch reports the most popular shows and movies among its users worldwide. Here’s a breakdown of what topped its Apple TV+ charts in August. Following its August 1 premiere, Chief of War overtook sci-fi hits Foundation and Invasion to top the global list, while The Buccaneers, Your Friends & Neighbors, and Silo dropped out. Here’s JustWatch’s top 10 global list of Apple TV+ series for August: As for Apple TV+ movies, The Gorge held its lead from last month, possibly still boos

The tariff apocalypse is here

As President Donald Trump’s August 29th deadline for new tariffs rolled around, the first thing that I thought of was 2026 planners. In July, Trump signed an executive order essentially killing a little-known but highly consequential trade rule, which meant that purchases coming from abroad — like $100 in planners and accessories — could enter the US duty-free. My preferred planner, the Hobonichi Techo, is printed and shipped from Japan. With the de minimis exemption removed, my tax bill could b

The Tragic End of Natalia Nagovitsyna's Ordeal on Pobeda Peak

Although the fate of Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, stranded at 7,150m on Kyrgyzstan’s Pobeda Peak since August 12, has been obvious for several days, the last wisps of hope ended today. A few hours ago, a military drone captured thermal imaging footage of Nagovitsyna’s tent on Pobeda Peak. The images, published on the official website of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB), revealed no signs of life in her tent. After more than two weeks, Kyrgyz authorities hav

No, a Windows update probably didn’t brick your SSD

For the last week or two, reports have been circulating that recent Windows 11 updates (specifically KB5063878 and KB5062660) were causing some SSDs using Phison controllers to fail. Tech influencers on YouTube and TikTok were quick to jump on the reports of corrupted data and disappearing drives, laying the blame squarely at Microsoft’s feet. We’re not saying any company is above lying to the public, and Microsoft has a history of rocky update rollouts, but both Microsoft and Phison claim they’

SpaceX scrubbed Starship's 10th test flight this evening

SpaceX's massive Starship rocket was scheduled to lift off from the company's Texas launch site this evening for its 10th flight. After scrubbing the launch initially planned for Sunday, August 24, things were apparently back on track for Monday, August 25. The launch window opened at 7:30PM ET (6:30PM CT) and was even livestreamed on the SpaceX website and on X, with a webcast starting 30 minutes before the supposed launch. However, SpaceX ultimately stood down from the test flight due to weath

SpaceX plans to launch Starship for its 10th test flight this evening

SpaceX's massive Starship rocket is scheduled to lift off from the company's Texas launch site as soon as this evening for its 10th flight. After scrubbing the launch initially planned for Sunday, August 24, things are apparently back on track for Monday, August 25. The launch window opens at 7:30PM ET (6:30PM CT). As always, the flight test will be livestreamed on the SpaceX website and on X, with a webcast starting 30 minutes before launch. Yesterday, the weather looked iffy for launch; Space

One of the World’s Tallest, Oldest Trees Is Ablaze in Oregon

The Doerner Fir, one of the world’s tallest coastal Douglas-fir trees, has stood within the remote forest of the Oregon Coast Range mountains for at least 450 years. On Saturday, August 16, officials received reports that this historic giant was engulfed in flames. Firefighters rushed to the scene, deploying drones, aircraft, and hand crews in an attempt to extinguish the 325-foot-tall (99-meter-tall), 11.5-foot-wide (3.5-meter-wide) tree, the Los Angeles Times reports. When the Coos County For

Apple celebrates National Parks with Apple Pay, Fitness+, and more

Apple has announced a handful of new initiatives to support the National Park Foundation in celebration of its 109th anniversary. This includes donations for Apple Pay purchases, an Apple Watch activity cahllenge, and more. First, from August 22 to 29, Apple says it will donate $10 to the National Park Foundation for every purchase made with Apple Pay at Apple Stores, in the App Store app, or on its website. This represents the ninth straight year of this initiative by Apple. As we reported ea

Having recovery and/or SSD problems after recent Windows updates? You’re not alone.

When updating a piece of software as large and complex and old as Windows, you're inevitably going to break something every once in a while. Microsoft tracks known issues here—generally they affect lesser-used features or obscure edge cases, but every once in a while you run into something bigger and more disruptive. August's updates have introduced a couple of more noticeable problems. The first was caused by update KB5063875, a relatively minor security update for older versions of Windows 10

There's a Hollow Knight: Silksong livestream on August 21 at 10:30AM ET

Is it finally happening? Team Cherry just announced a livestream for the long-anticipated sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong. It takes place on August 21 at 10:30AM ET. The company says it will be making a "special announcement" about the game. We don't exactly know what this announcement will be, but it's starting to feel like a release date or at least a release window. Rumors have been swirling that the title would finally be getting a release date during this week's Gamescom festivities, with G

There's a Hollow Knight: Silksong livestream on April 21 at 10:30AM ET

Is it finally happening? Team Cherry just announced a livestream for the long-anticipated sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong. It takes place on August 21 at 10:30AM ET. The company says it will be making a "special announcement" about the game. We don't exactly know what this announcement will be, but it's starting to feel like a release date or at least a release window. Rumors have been swirling that the title would finally be getting a release date during this week's Gamescom festivities, with G

Apple shares video of epic Severance mural in LA

LA is populated with marketing materials for all sorts of entertainment, but this giant painted Severance mural is one-of-a-kind. Apple shared photos of “The Exalted Victory of Cold Harbor” mural on display near an Apple TV+ billboard on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles this week. The finishing touches were put on the mural at the end of July, according to passersby on social media. These are the shots shared by Apple, including a selfie by Severance lead actor Adam Scott: Meanwhile, a Facebook

Spider-Man and Mortal Kombat 1 head up August's PS Plus Game Catalog additions

Sony just announced some new additions to the PS Plus Game Catalog for August and it's a pretty beefy lineup. All of these titles will be ready to play on August 19. There's something here for just about everyone, so let's get started. Perhaps the biggest game of the bunch is Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. This is the PS5 port of the PS4 hit, which upgrades the graphics and swaps out the actor playing Peter Parker. PS4 owners aren't being left out in the cold here, as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game

Spike in Fortinet VPN brute-force attacks raises zero-day concerns

A massive spike in brute-force attacks targeted Fortinet SSL VPNs earlier this month, followed by a switch to FortiManager, marked a deliberate shift in targeting that has historically preceded new vulnerability disclosures. The campaign, detected by threat monitoring platform GreyNoise, manifested in two waves, on August 3 and August 5, with the second wave pivoting to FortiManager targeting with a different TCP signature. As GreyNoise previously reported, such spikes in deliberate scanning a

Elon Musk Can’t Control His AI

With Grok, the months pass, but the story stays the same. The AI chatbot from xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, continues to stir controversy, putting its host platform, X, in an increasingly embarrassing position. Just weeks after a version of Grok was found to be praising Adolf Hitler, the new, supposedly more powerful “SuperGrok” found itself in hot water again on Monday, forcing X to briefly suspend the chatbot for what it vaguely described as “inappropriate posts.” Even El

Elon Musk Turns His AI Chatbot Into a Male Fantasy Engine

Elon Musk has always been the biggest hype man for his own companies. Whether it’s Tesla, SpaceX, or X (formerly Twitter), the world’s richest man personally takes to social media to promote new features, products, and ideas. His AI venture, xAI, is no exception. Over the past week, Musk has been flooding X with posts promoting Grok Imagine, the new image-and-video-generation feature in SuperGrok, the most advanced version of xAI’s Grok chatbot. But the images Musk chooses to showcase say as mu

Is Google Messages crashing for you? You’re not alone. (Update: Fixed!)

Update, August 8, 2025 (02:34 PM ET): We’ve heard back from Google in response to our inquiry, and we’ve got some good news to share. A spokesperson tells us: We frequently test new features as part of our beta programs. This bug, which was caused by an experiment, affected a limited number of Google Messages open beta users and has now been fixed. The fix was applied automatically, so no action is required from users. Beta testing tends to involve a small amount of risk, and examples like thi

How to watch Gamescom 2025 and what to expect

It feels like Summer Game Fest is only just in our rear view mirror and yet there's another video game extravaganza on the horizon. Gamescom is the planet's largest gaming event and we're sure to find out about a bunch of interesting new games at the Opening Night Live showcase. Xbox is broadcasting from the show floor across two days, and there will be other presentations that are worth keeping an eye on. Gamescom is taking place between August 20 and 24 this year, and we're learning bits and

Analyzing Control Flow More Like a Human [video]

Time and Location Date: Wednesday, August 6 Wednesday, August 6 Time: 1:00-2:00PM 1:00-2:00PM Location: Luddy Hall 1104 Abstract Control-flow analysis has been around for over four decades. Over this time period, the typical formulation has remained essentially an exhaustive analysis over whole programs—an analyzer ingests an entire higher-order program and produces a flow fact for each point therein. An alternative approach is demand-driven. Implementing this approach, an analyzer allows t

Apple planning ‘National Fitness Day’ Apple Watch Challenge in China

Since 2008, China has observed National Fitness Day on August 8. And in recent years, Apple has marked the occasion with an exclusive Apple Watch challenge. This year will be no exception. National Challenge Day set for August 8 As in previous years, Apple will challenge users in China to complete a 20-minute workout to unlock a custom animated sticker pack to be used in iMessage, FaceTime, and other messaging apps, as well as a special achievement in the Fitness app trophy gallery. Here’s Ap

Google's Pixel Watch 4, Fold Pro 10 and Buds 2a are rumored to launch later than the rest of its new gear

Google has an event lined up for August 20 and has promised to reveal "new Pixel phones, watches, buds" and more. However, rumors have been swirling that the company won't have many of these products ready to go after being unveiled. Winfuture has reported that the Pixel Watch 4, Fold Pro 10 and Buds 2a will be announced at the Made by Google event, but won't be available until October . The Pixel 10 line of smartphones will reportedly be available on August 28, which is just around a week afte

Xbox Game Pass additions for August include Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Microsoft has revealed the first batch of Xbox Game Pass additions for August, and there are several tasty options in store over the next couple of weeks. The first one lands today on Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard in the form of Rain World , a difficult survival platform game. In case that’s not your tempo, though, you won’t have to wait long for other things to play. On August 7, Assassin’s Creed Mirage will hit Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. I enjoyed this tigh

How to Watch One of the Most Dazzling Meteor Showers of the Year

Skywatchers are in for a treat: The Perseid meteor shower—one of the brightest and most active of the year—is about to hit its peak, according to the American Meteor Society. The Perseids are an annual meteor shower that started in July, but astronomers expect the light show to be at its best between the evening hours of August 12 through to August 13. Famous for its typically high volume of swift, bright meteors, these burning space rocks leave long streaks of colorful light across the night s

The Films and Shows You Should Be Streaming in August 2025

A new era of streaming selections is here. For the past several years, our monthly column, the Nerd’s Watch, has been the place to find out all the best genre titles coming to the biggest streaming services. It wasn’t a complete list. We just posted the titles we think you’d care about, but it was still long, and frankly, it was hard to pick out the best of the best. Anaconda (August 1 on Netflix) Months before the new remake with Jack Black and Paul Rudd, revisit the iconic camp classic with

Google shifts goo.gl policy: Inactive links deactivated, active links preserved

While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we've adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links. We understand these links are embedded in countless documents, videos, posts and more, and we appreciate the input received. Nine months ago, we redirected URLs that showed no activity in late 2024 to a message specifying that the link would be deactivated in August, and these are the only links targeted to be deactivated. If you g

80 New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books Arriving in August

If you’re looking for some new books to get you through the dog days of summer, io9’s got you covered with 80 to choose from: sci-fi epics, fantasy sagas, short-story collections, myths, legends, monsters, and so much more. August 5 Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer The Assistant to the Villain rom-com fantasy series continues following the misadventures of Evie, an office worker who falls for her boss despite his status as “the kingdom’s most terrifying villain.” (August 5)

Topics: 12 19 26 august fantasy