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Ecovacs’ Deebot X8 and X9 Pro Omni robovacs are nearly 50 percent off

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The Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni offer a range of smarts for a relatively affordable price. | Image: Ecovacs If you like the idea of spring cleaning but not the part where you actually have to clean, both the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni and newer  X9 Pro Omni  have dropped to their lowest prices to date ahead of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale , which officially kicks off on March 25th. The X8 Pro Omni is available for $599 ($501 off) from Amazon , Best Buy , and Ecovacs , while the X9 Pro Omni is on sale for $679 ($621 off) at the same retailers ( Amazon , Best Buy , Ecovacs ). Deebot X8 Pro Omni Where to Buy: $1099.99 $599 at Amazon $1099.99 $599 at Ecovacs $1099.99 $599 at Best Buy Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni Where to Buy: $1299.99 $679 at Amazon $1299.99 $679 at Ecovacs $1299.99 $679 at Best Buy Both robot vacuums are packed with smart features designed to reduce the time you spend cleaning. Using lidar and a 3D camera for mapping, they can deftly nav...

I met Olaf — the Frozen robot who might be the future of Disney Parks

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Olaf, a Disney Imagineering robot that will greet guests at Disney parks. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge You know Olaf. Before KPop Demon Hunters , before the Wicked movies, it was Disney's Frozen that blasted show tunes like "Let It Go" and "Into the Unknown" into our lives. My little girls loved belting those tunes. So when I met Olaf, the Disney Imagineering robot, I kept thinking: I can't wait for my kids to meet him too. It's a weird thought, really, because this Olaf isn't a "he" and can't carry on a conversation. Why do I keep thinking "I met him" when he's largely a remote-controlled puppet teleoperated by a Steam Deck gaming handheld? @verge Is this the best robot Disney's ever made? Frozen's snowman Olaf will soon greet guests … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/w7xQkSV

OpenAI’s adult mode will reportedly be smutty, not pornographic

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So when exactly is smut considered porn? | Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images OpenAI's delayed "adult mode" for ChatGPT is expected to support saucy text conversations at launch, but not the chatbot's ability to generate images, voice, or video. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal , an unnamed OpenAI spokesperson described content that will be provided by the upcoming feature as smut rather than pornography, allowing ChatGPT users to generate textual chats with adult themes. The feature was initially announced in October, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claiming that the company had managed to mitigate enough of the "serious mental health issues" with its AI model to relax safety restrictions and introduce " erotica for ver … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/wb7Fxgk

My fitness tracker is a secret weapon against my chronic illness

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Arielle Duhaime-Ross does a bike tune-up. | Photo by Evan Ortiz / The Verge One of the first major crashes I experienced as a chronically ill person happened on an unusually sunny January day in New York City. It was 2023, and I was riding my bike with a friend, flying high from the exercise. We'd covered just over 40 miles on mostly flat ground, a longish ride, but not out of ordinary for me. And that's when it started. About 15 minutes from my apartment, my body gave out. At first it was just my head - it grew hot, and within minutes, my brain felt like it was on fire. Pretty soon, the rest of my insides were burning up, too. As the skin on my arms and face turned red, and my limbs grew heavy, I felt bewildered. … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/FbX27dU

Aether OS is computer in a browser built for the AT Protocol

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Aether OS puts a full-fledged desktop in your browser that ties directly into the AT Protocol . That means it connects to your Bluesky account and other public records. It offers a pretty full suite of apps , 42 in total, covering text editing, task management, and social media. There's even a rudimentary tracker for making chiptunes, a DAW, and a video editor. Of course, part of the appeal is also the cyberpunk good looks that draw obvious inspiration from The Matrix . Right now, the project is in alpha, and there are a lot of rough edges. Documentation is also basically non-existent. So, if you get stuck trying to use an app, you're kind … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/HRcAikt

Live-service games are a mess

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This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the slow-motion disaster of live-service games, follow Andrew Webster . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Two years ago, I stood at the top of the iconic red stairs in Times Square to experience the weirdest concert of my life. As glowing butterflies flitted about the various screens, a crowd steadily grew, knowing something was happening, but unsure of what. Then a countdown started, and a minute later one of the screens opened up, revealing Ice Spice and, later, … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/zUQR5O9

The $100,000 fee for H-1Bs is causing all sorts of problems

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Last fall, President Donald Trump's executive order raising the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 - like many of his immigration policies - led to near-immediate chaos. Thousands of workers who had flown overseas to renew their visas ended up stranded abroad . Details about who would be affected only emerged after the fact. Six months later, the disorder from the initial announcement has mostly subsided. The H-1B registration season for the next fiscal year has just begun. With H-1B applications open until March 19th, it's unclear what effect, if any, the new rules will have on hiring, immigration, and the workforce, but experts are warning the … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/aqy3isd