Even before birth our ideas of the world are likely being shaped by what we see in the womb. Read...

Home surveillance used to be pretty complicated, involving steps like running internet and power cables all over your house to connect everything into a cohesive network. Nowadays, you can get it all done with Wi-Fi and battery power—and if you get a security camera with a built-in solar panel, you don’t even have to worry about charging. I’m talking about this Eufy SoloCam S220 that’s on sale for $49.99 on Amazon. That’s a whopping 50% discount from its original $99.99 price, meaning you can effectively get two for one now. And given how much Eufy users love the brand, you can’t go wrong here. View this Amazon deal With the SoloCam S220, all you have to do is drill a couple of holes, screw in the mount, then click the camera into place. Use the Eufy app to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. And you’re done! No need to hassle around with cables or wires. No need to periodically recharge the battery either, thanks to the integrated solar panel—only 3 hours of sunlight per day to keep it fully charged. (Just make sure you install it in a good spot that gets ample sun exposure.) This entire design simplifies home surveillance, and the camera itself is quite good. It can capture video in 2K resolution during both day and night, plus it has AI tech to differentiate between humans, vehicles, and more. The best part? Eufy doesn’t require a monthly subscription for features (most other brands do). The only exception is for cloud storage, but you don’t need it if you use the camera’s internal 8GB storage. (Sadly, there’s no microSD slot for storage expansion.) The Eufy SoloCam S220 is a catch for $50, so get in on this sale while you still can. In fact, consider grabbing a few and putting them up everywhere for full coverage of your property and peace of mind. This popular solar-powered Wi-Fi security cam is 50% offBuy now at Amazon Read...

I’ve said it many times before: when I build my desktop PCs, I want them to look like little refrigerators. No glass, no RGB. But I must admit, this NextGear design is incredibly appealing. With its Clear Shift case, the tempered glass panels on the side and front can shift from transparent to frosted in about one second. Even at its most opaque, the system lets a fair bit of light through, showing off RGB parts even if it won’t actually let you see what they are. Promotional material (machine translated) refers to the two glass settings as “clear mode” and “stealth mode.” The idea appears to be that you can get a slightly more professional look when necessary—for, I don’t know, a video meeting or something. This feature doesn’t need a justification if you ask me, though. It’s just cool. Nextgear The Mouse-jp.co.jp store (spotted by VideoCardz.com) is selling various configurations of the NextGear pre-built. They start at 164,800 yen (about $1,070 USD) for a Ryzen 5 4500 and RTX 3050, all the way up to a Ryzen 7 7700 and Radeon RX 9060XT for 264,800 yen (about $1,719 USD). That seems a little understated in terms of power for such a fancy case, which, unfortunately, isn’t available as a separate purchase. Maybe we’ll see it pop up at some point. Read...

From handshakes to hugs, etiquette experts unpack how to avoid awkward missteps in a consent-conscious, multicultural world. Read...

More and more of the web is filling up with LLM-generated text, images, and even videos and music. It’s an even bigger problem than it seems because the “AI” systems that have scoured the web to generate their large language models are now re-indexing all that output. It’s an ouroboros of AI slop…. and now ChatGPT—which, by most measures, is the most popular LLM—is indexing Grokipedia. Grokipedia is an AI-generated encyclopedia created last year by xAI, sister company to Elon Musk’s social media site. It’s almost entirely auto-generated with the Grok LLM, which has been integrated into the social network as well. Grokipedia is positioned as a conservative alternative to Wikipedia, which Musk considers “woke” and “propaganda.” Grokipedia is filled with inaccuracies and AI hallucinations—at an apparently higher rate than even normal LLM systems—as Grok itself has been intentionally tweaked to conform to Musk’s dictates. The system has been observed promoting conspiracy theories and other material that range from merely delusional to actively harmful. Now it appears that OpenAI’s ChatGPT is indexing Grokipedia to answer at least some users’ queries. According to an investigation in The Guardian, ChatGPT 5.2 is selective about when it returns info gleaned from Grokipedia—it won’t give you immediate Grok-generated answers for the page’s most well-known and documented falsehoods, such as HIV and AIDS misinformation. But when users pushed ChatGPT to go into more detail on controversies surrounding the Iranian government or Holocaust denier David Irving, the system did return info gleaned from Grok-generated pages. The massive volume of text spat out by LLMs—estimated to be more than half of all new published articles as of late 2025—is becoming a problem. “AI” errors (or “hallucinations”) can be spread, replicated, and repeated, essentially overwriting established knowledge with a copy error. The fundamentally iterative nature of large language models can also be weaponized. Google’s Gemini AI has been seen repeating the Chinese Communist Party’s official positions on the country’s human rights abuses (or, according to Gemini, its lack thereof), and some security researchers believe Russia is pumping out LLM-generated propaganda text with the specific aim of having it integrated into other large language models. Grok itself has been observed repeating explicitly hateful material, with the chatbot referring to itself as “MechaHitler.” It also AI-generated millions of sexualized images of minors via tools accessible on X starting in December 2025. The tool was disabled for free users in early January and restricted on X to disable the tool as applied to real people in revealing clothing. Countries around the world have opened investigations into Grok/X following the incident, citing possible violations of various laws. Indonesia and Malaysia have outright blocked access to Grok. Exactly why OpenAI chose to integrate Grok’s output into ChatGPT—not only seeking out auto-generated text but training its own systems on a rival and competitor’s product—is not clear. It may simply be that the ever-hungry nature of large language models, which are dependent on new input in order to iteratively adapt and change, means that OpenAI cannot be selective with its training. Read...

Heavy rainfall has caused flooding and slips, cutting off Whangarei communities. Read...

Images on TikTok show scenes of destruction with mud and wreckage not actually visible at the site - with captions like `Mount Maunganui Campground. Prayers for those possibly trapped`. Read...

If you have multiple devices and gadgets that you need to keep charged day to day, one thing you’ll love (and wonder how you ever lived without) is a multi-port GaN charger. Something like this 2-port Anker Nano power adapter that’s on sale for just $19.49 on Amazon. That’s a smooth 35% off its original $29.99 price. A pretty nice deal! View this Amazon deal There are so many reasons to love GaN chargers: their compact form factor, their improved power efficiency, and their reduced heat output. This Anker Nano ticks all the boxes, complete with two fast-charging USB-C ports allowing you to charge two devices at once. When using a single port, it delivers up to 47 watts of charging power, which will fast-charge phones, tablets, smartwatches, and more. When both ports are being used, one of them will cap at 27 watts while the other will cap at 20 watts—and that’s still pretty fast, especially compared to older pre-GaN chargers. The cherry on top of this Anker charger block is the foldable prongs, which make it easy to pack into a backpack or luggage so it won’t get damaged or cause damage to anything else. If you’re tired of slowly charging devices and wish you could fast-charge two devices at once, this is a cheap way to upgrade your setup. Get this 2-port USB-C charger block for $19.49 on Amazon! Save 35% on this 2-port USB-C fast-charging power adapterBuy now at Amazon Read...

Earlier this month, Google started rolling out a new feature that lets users change their Gmail addresses—and it’s already being exploited by cybercriminals and malicious actors. The new feature allows one’s original Gmail address to remain as an alias, so that incoming emails continue to land in the same inbox. The feature is primarily intended for users who want to replace their old address. Security experts are now warning that scammers are specifically exploiting this new feature by crafting deceptively genuine phishing emails that are sent via legitimate Google systems and aim to take complete control of Google accounts. Phishing via Google imitations According to security experts, scam emails are currently being sent that purportedly originate from Google and refer to an alleged change of Gmail address or a necessary security confirmation. The messages appear particularly credible because they’re sent via Google’s own systems and display real Google addresses, such as “no-reply@accounts.google.com” as the sender. These emails often mention a security-related action, such as activating a new address or confirming your identity. A link supposedly leads to a Google support or security page, but in reality users end up on fake websites where they’re asked to enter their password. What makes this particularly insidious is that the scammers are using the “sites.google.com” domain, which is a legitimate Google service for user-generated websites—and is therefore not blocked by many spam filters. These fake sites are made to imitate genuine Google support pages in a way that seems visually authentic at first glance. If attackers succeed in taking over your Google account, the consequences are serious. Not only are Gmail messages affected, but all connected services (such as Google Drive, Google Photos, and Google Calendar) will also be compromised. Furthermore, if your Google account is used to log into third-party services (such as social networks, online shops, or financial services), attackers can trigger a chain reaction and gain access to those other accounts. Security experts warned of this before Security company Check Point Research had previously pointed out a first wave of these attacks at the end of 2025, even before Google had officially announced the new feature more widely. Back then, the attackers had abused a workflow automation tool to send phishing emails via legitimate Google infrastructure. Google stated that its own systems had not been compromised, but that protective measures had been taken. How to recognize phishing emails Despite their professional appearance, many of these fraudulent emails can be spotted if you know what to look for. Typical red flags include: Impersonal salutations such as “Dear customer” instead of your actual first and last name. Urgent wording and threats, such as risk of account suspension, account deletion, or monetary consequences. The urgency is meant to scare you into acting without thinking. Requests to enter passwords or other access data via a link. The link often takes you to a fake website that’s dressed up like the real thing, hoping you’ll enter your credentials—which are then intercepted by the scammer. Google itself recommends never clicking links in emails and instead always checking security warnings directly in your account. To do this, open your browser and manually navigate to your Google account page instead of clicking on links in emails. Genuine warnings usually contain details such as device type, time, and location of access. How to protect your Google account The most important thing you can do is maintain healthy skepticism towards unsolicited emails. Be sure to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for your Google account—even if attackers know your password, 2FA will prevent access in many cases. Check your security settings regularly, use a long and unique password, and never enter your login credentials via links in emails. When in doubt, always go directly to the official Google website, log into your account, and check whether any action is actually required. New features are often abused by criminals for phishing. It’s therefore important to remain vigilant when it comes to alleged security messages—even if they appear to come from a legitimate source. Further reading: Never, ever delete your spam email. Here’s why Read...

Police say the recovery could last many days and possibly extend to weeks. Read...