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I used Google Lens to identify my weirdest junk drawer items - here's how it did

Johnrob/E+ via Getty Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Even junk drawer mysteries can highlight AI's real-world potential. Google Lens nailed obscure 3D printer parts from multiple brands. Scale and context still confuse AI visual recognition tools. We all have our junk drawers. Typically, there's one in the kitchen that holds many tiny pieces of appliances, covers, caps, and accessories. There's often one in the bedroom, which tends to collect t

Nobel laureate David Baltimore dead at 87

Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and former Caltech president David Baltimore—who found himself at the center of controversial allegations of fraud against a co-author—has died at 87 from cancer complications. He shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology for his work upending the then-consensus that cellular information flowed only in one direction. Baltimore is survived by his wife of 57 years, biologist Alice Huang, as well as a daughter and granddaughter. "David Baltimore's contributi

Steve Ballmer Interview

Ben: David, Steve gave us the signed Clippers jersey with the name Acquired on it. There’s only one jersey. What are we going to do about this? David: Should we rock paper scissors for it? You know what? You keep it. There’s no Seattle basketball team. Keep it there up north. Ben: All right. It’ll go in the Acquired museum north. David: Great. Ben: Perfect. All right, let’s do it. David: Let’s do it. Ben: Welcome to episode one of the Summer 2025 season of Acquired, the podcast about great

The Steve Ballmer Interview

Ben: David, Steve gave us the signed Clippers jersey with the name Acquired on it. There’s only one jersey. What are we going to do about this? David: Should we rock paper scissors for it? You know what? You keep it. There’s no Seattle basketball team. Keep it there up north. Ben: All right. It’ll go in the Acquired museum north. David: Great. Ben: Perfect. All right, let’s do it. David: Let’s do it. Ben: Welcome to episode one of the Summer 2025 season of Acquired, the podcast about great

David Klein's TWA Posters (2018)

The illustrator and artist David Klein is best known today for his glorious posters for the Howard Hughes owned Trans World Airlines in the 1950s and 1960s. TWA at the time was one of the world’s most well known and admired airlines. It became the first airline to hire an African-American stewardess, the first to show in-flight movies and one of the first to start using the Boeing 747 or the ‘Jumbo Jet’ as it quickly became known. In 1962, TWA opened their revolutionary and still acclaimed JFK t

Does Steven Spielberg’s ‘AI: Artificial Intelligence’ Play Differently Today?

Rewatching Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film AI: Artificial Intelligence, it feels as plausible as ever, but also more misguided. In 2001, AI was barely a thought in everyday life. It was the thing that destroyed the world in Terminator, and still a lofty goal in tech circles. Today, as the technology continues to grow and dominate daily conversation in almost every way, you may expect to watch the film and have a slightly new perspective. Some change in insight. Instead, the film falters as Spielber

‘Rick and Morty’ Is Getting a Presidential Spin-Off

As Rick and Morty continues to roll out its excellent eighth season, fans now have even more to look forward to than Rick and Morty seasons nine, 10, 11, and 12. President Curtis, a spin-off featuring one of the show’s recurring supporting characters, is officially a go at Adult Swim. And yes, the legendary Keith David will be back voicing the POTUS. The President’s clashes with Rick go all the way back to the season two episode “Get Schwifty”—and he’s popped up several times since then, usuall

Solar-plus-storage technology is improving quickly

I chat with Kostantsa Rangelova and Dave Jones, authors of a new Ember report, who find that solar-plus-storage costs have declined so much that it can now provide baseload-level power in sunny cities for less than the cost of new nuclear or even new gas. We discuss why even energy pros are behind the curve on this, how quickly the technology is improving, and why most of the world doesn't see natural gas as a viable option the way the US does. (PDF transcript) (Active transcript) Text transc

Solar+storage is so much farther along than you think

I chat with Kostantsa Rangelova and Dave Jones, authors of a new Ember report, who find that solar-plus-storage costs have declined so much that it can now provide baseload-level power in sunny cities for less than the cost of new nuclear or even new gas. We discuss why even energy pros are behind the curve on this, how quickly the technology is improving, and why most of the world doesn't see natural gas as a viable option the way the US does. (PDF transcript) (Active transcript) Text transc

My 8 ChatGPT Agent tests produced only 1 near-perfect result - and a lot of alternative facts

ZDNET Last week, OpenAI unveiled Agent, its new tool that combines the capabilities of Deep Research and Operator. Operator was OpenAI's first attempt at a computer-using model, a model that actually can open windows and click on user interface elements. ChatGPT Agent can do that and more. Right now, ChatGPT Agent is only available for $200/mo Pro tier subscribers and provides for 400 agent interactions per month. When the $20/mo Plus tier gains access to Agent, which should be today, those us

Topics: agent ai david time zdnet

How I started my own LinkedIn newsletter for free - in 5 easy steps

David Gewirtz / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET It's been almost exactly two years since I launched my weekly Advanced Geekery email newsletter on Substack. Each week, I list my latest ZDNET articles, showcase any new videos I put out, sometimes spotlight projects I'm working on (and those of readers), and share a few great YouTube videos and articles worth reading. The newsletter is a great way for those who like my work to keep up with what I produce. Recently, I've started getting requests fo

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Reveals Galactus’ Big Goal

Noah Hawley teases a plethora of new creatures coming to Alien: Earth. Mark Frost weighs in on the potential future of Twin Peaks after David Lynch’s passing. Plus, Jennifer Love Hewitt wants you to stick around after the credits for I Know What You Did Last Summer. Spoilers now! SuperUnknown Deadline reports Madeleine McGraw (The Black Phone, The Black Phone 2) is attached to star in SuperUnknown, “a supernatural coming-of-age thriller” from directors Chris and Nick Riedell. The story is said

Topics: david don just know new

I Solved the Century-Old Mystery of a Miraculous Shipwreck Survivor

I t’s the morning of August 22, 2019, and I’m in a Zodiac bouncing along the waters of the St. Lawrence River. It can hold six divers and all their gear, but this morning, there are only six of us—no gear. Far from being divers, we are curiosity seekers from New York, Vancouver, London, and Montreal, all obsessed with the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, which claimed 1,014 lives in 1914. Until a few years ago, I had never heard of the Empress and its disastrous end. And that’s staggering, be

I invested $50 in Bitcoin in 2022 - here's what it's worth now after an eye-popping rally

ZDNET Welcome to Hot Bitcoin Summer, 2025 Edition. It's July 14, and the cryptocurrency is on fire. Turns out that when the President of the United States is bullish on a fake currency, it takes off. Then, when the US Congress declares "crypto week," cybercurrency speculators get that warm, squishy feeling that makes them think good things are about to happen in their imaginary world of bits as bucks. Also: How AI can help you manage your finances (and what to watch out for) In honor of all

I invested $50 in Bitcoin in 2022 - here's what it's worth now after a record rally

ZDNET Welcome to Hot Bitcoin Summer, 2025 Edition. It's July 14, and Bitcoin is on fire. Turns out that when the President of the United States is bullish on a fake currency, it takes off. Then, when the US Congress declares "crypto week," cybercurrency speculators get that warm, squishy feeling that makes them think good things are about to happen in their imaginary world of bits as bucks. In honor of all of this and because my eyes popped when I checked my own investments this morning, I'm

The Download: China’s winning at advanced manufacturing, and a potential TikTok sale

In 2013, a trio of academics showed convincing evidence that increased trade with China beginning in the early 2000s and the resulting flood of cheap imports had been an unmitigated disaster for many US communities, destroying their manufacturing lifeblood. The results of what they called the “China shock” were gut-wrenching: the loss of 1 million US manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million jobs in total by 2011. If in retrospect all that seems obvious, it’s only because the research by David Auto

Hell Yeah, ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners II’ is Happening

After repeated teases over the past year, Studio Trigger revealed it’s making a sequel to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, its hit 2022 anime based on Cyberpunk 2077. At the show’s AnimeExpo panel on Friday, returning showrunner Bartoz Sztybor and season one voice actors Zac Aguilar (David Martinez) and Emi Lo (Lucy Kushinada) revealed the new season with a tantalizing poster made by Trigger character designer Ichigo Kanno. The new series is said to be standalone—sorry, season one fans, Sztybor and the

I'm Done With Citronella. This $35 Device Keeps Mosquitos at Bay Without the Odor

Longer, hotter summers means a longer mosquito season. If June's heat waves are any indication of what's to come, you better have a plan for bugs. I was winging it with fickle citronella and stinky bug spray until I discovered the Thermacell -- an affordable bug repellent diffuser that has kept my evenings almost completely bite-free since I started using it. The Thermacell works better than any mosquito repellant I've tried. David Watsky/CNET Massachusetts-based Thermacell makes a line of dev

The All-In Podcast’s $1,200 tequila has already sold out

In Brief The VCs, pod bros, and self-proclaimed “besties” of the All-In Podcast launched their own tequila brand Saturday night and it promptly sold out, according to liquor ecommerce sites. Their version of the Mexican spirit cost a jaw-dropping $1,200 apiece but only 750 bottles were made. The stacked poker-chip container was inspired by the “besties” love of the card game. The All-In Podcast is one of the most popular shows by venture investors who have turned to politics. The besties cons

This hidden Chrome feature is my secret productivity trick - here's my favorite way to use it

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET You may have noticed an odd little button that sometimes appears in your Chrome browser bar labeled "Google Lens." It's actually been there for a number of years now, although it doesn't always show up. But have you ever used it? Have you even given it a second thought? Or has it just become one more piece of digital clutter your brain edits out? We've covered Google Lens before on ZDNET. We've done so a number of times, in fact. But we've always covered it as a fe