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Comcast is splitting in two

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Comcast has announced plans to separate itself into two publicly traded companies, spinning off its NBCUniversal and Sky broadcasting arms. The shake up aims to protect the media conglomerate's profitable broadband and wireless brand, which will retain the "Comcast" company name, as its media and entertainment business - now collectively named "NBCUniversal" - faces increasing pressure from industry consolidation and streaming rivals. The separation is expected to take approximately a year, with Comcast shareholders owning shares in both Comcast and NBCUniversal upon completion. While current Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts will be "actively i … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/bkyCun2

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

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A sneaky rule change has the potential to blow up scientific research in the United States. But there's still time to fight it. On May 29th, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a 412-page proposal to revise federal financial assistance. The language is a combination of distinctly Trumpian attacks on "woke" policies and boring governmentese designed to make your eyes glaze over as quickly as possible. But under phrases like "providing further clarification on the regulatory status of the OMB requirements" is something darker - a threat to scientific research in this country, the livelihoods of thousands of scientists, and the li … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/05BVvp8

China’s Z.ai claims it can match Mythos on cybersecurity

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China's Zhipu AI ( Z.ai ) released its open-weight GLM-5.2, and some researchers have claimed that it matches Mythos in certain bug-finding and cybersecurity scenarios. While GLM lags behind models from Anthropic and OpenAI in other, more general tasks, it seems that China has dramatically reduced the gap in the capabilities between its models and those of the US. This level of advancement is particularly concerning to the US government, which has worked to restrict China's access to powerful models like Anthropic's Mythos and Fable, as well as the hardware necessary to train and run them. The Trump administration views Mythos and other advan … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/4o0q9xw

Suno launches Spark incubator program to feed independent artists to its AI machine

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Suno has ambitions to be more than just a toy to churn out AI slop, it also wants to be a streaming destination and to break new artists. Spark is their new incubator program for independent artists that provides grants, mentorship, and marketing support. To apply, artists need to be an unsigned singer, songwriter, or producer releasing music under their own name. They also need to agree to some terms and conditions that have raised some eyebrows over on the Suno subreddit . For one, you need to agree to make your songs available on Suno for remixing. That's not necessarily super concerning, but the broad license it grants Suno to your works … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ur4Iihk

Ad-free streaming is a luxury now

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This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about the streaming industry, follow Emma Roth . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Streaming was once a reprieve from cable. Not only could you watch whatever you wanted at any given time, but you didn't have to sit through five-minute-long commercial breaks. And the best part was the price: Netflix, for example, cost just $7.99 / month when it launched its standalone streaming service in 2010. Amazon's Prime Video was the same, offering ad-free streaming as a p … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/IOARr5s

TMD’s keyless bike lock is a $280 solution to a $60 problem

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A $280 bike lock on a $10,000 e-bike. I've seen lots of so-called "smart" bike locks over the years, but none so far could justify the added cost. A newcomer that got its start securing ATMs for banks is trying to change that. There's nothing wholly unique about the TMD Chain Lock , but the combination of materials, performance, and insurance-friendly ART-2 certification makes it worth considering. TMD's first bicycle lock combines a Bluetooth proximity sensor and motion alarm with a slender core of hardened steel chain wrapped in a soft and lightweight sleeve of high performance Dyneema and Kevlar fibers. That makes this lock tough, yet flexible enough to conveniently wrap arou … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/0ahRIQi

Teenage Engineering adds lo-fi mode, USB audio, and more to its KO II sampler

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Teenage Engineering has already issued multiple substantial updates for its surprisingly capable $329 EP-133 KO II sampler . Its latest is one of the biggest yet. OS 2.5 adds audio over USB, selectable sample rates for lo-fi fun, sample reverse, an arpeggiator, equal-length autochopping, and it extends the maximum length of a sample from 20 seconds to 40 seconds by capturing mono, instead of stereo, audio. Sample reverse is such a simple feature that it's shocking it wasn't implemented earlier. An arpeggiator doesn't always make a ton of sense on a sampler, but the KO II sounds so incredible repitching samples (like the SK-1 successor I've a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/AlDFOuG