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Audacity 4 is a complete revamp of the ‘world’s most popular’ audio editor

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Audacity 4 has been in the works for some time, and had its own mini controversy last year when an unfortunate redesigned logo started making the rounds. The final version of the new icon isn't nearly as bad as the early rendition that was circulating last October. But more importantly, all the promised improvements to the self-proclaimed "world's most popular audio editing and recording app" are here, turning Audacity from a free and capable but extremely clunky audio editor into a powerful modern tool. The biggest change is the move to a non-destructive editing workflow. That means you can trim a clip down, then recover the audio simply … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/YrDWujJ

The White House is making arcade games racist

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Trump’s racist new “Build the Wall” game. | Image: The White House The PR masterminds at the White House just released a series of vaguely policy-themed "arcade" games, some of which are racist - and modeled on real games whose copyright holders may not be too happy to be associated with the MAGA agenda. The Tetris Company has already responded to "Build the Wall," which is obviously modeled on the famous puzzle game. In the Trump administration's game, the player has to stack interlocking shapes to stop a "zombie border siege" along the southern border. Aliens - the administration's preferred term for noncitizens , and the subject of previous grotesque attempts at humor - run across the screen, trying to … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/9klZgUb

Steve Ballmer got suspended by the NBA because of a podcast and a jumbotron corruption scandal

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INGLEWOOD, CA - JULY 19: A view of Halo Board inside the Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers new arena, during a press preview on July 19, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Last September, Steve Ballmer insisted in an ESPN interview that the Clippers weren't involved in a shady-looking $28 million endorsement deal for his star player, Kawhi Leonard, that involved no actual endorsing. Now, the former Microsoft CEO has been suspended by the NBA for a year, while the league says his team will forfeit five future draft picks and pay a $30 million fine, among other penalties. A year later, an NBA-commissioned 35-page report by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is basically calling him a liar, saying those claims were "inaccurate (at best) with respect to Mr. Ballmer" and "clearly false" when it came to Clippers presi … Read the full story at T...

You can watch the coolant flow inside Ugreen’s liquid-cooled power bank

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Does your power bank have "CryoPulse technology" or a "Cyber Window"? If you disappointingly answered "no" to both, you might want to consider upgrading to Ugreen's new MagFlow Pro Magnetic Power Bank . It's available starting today for $149.99 , which puts it on the really expensive end of power banks with only a 10,000mAh battery, but those fancy-sounding features are part of what Ugreen is claiming to be the world's first liquid-cooling system on a power bank with wireless charging. Inside the MagFlow Pro is a micro-pump that's used to circulate coolant and draw heat away from components including the power bank's Qi2.2-compatible wireless … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/nic93g2

Dungeons & Dragons is getting a ‘Ravenloft’ live-action Netflix series

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Strahd returned earlier this year in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within. | Image: Wizards of the Coast A Ravenloft series is currently in development from executive producer Alfonso Cuarón, writer and executive producer John August, and Hasbro Entertainment, Deadline reports. It could bring to life one of Dungeons & Dragons ' most iconic campaign settings, which got an update earlier this year with Ravenloft: The Horrors Within . Netflix's Ravenloft series will reportedly center on the infamous Strahd, according to Deadline : At its heart, the series follows the making of the vampire Darklord Strahd von Zarovich, whose story of power, love, obsession, and undead transformation charts his origins from tragic antihero to one of Dungeons & Dra … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/Iay3lRu

Congressman says TikTok backed out of a meeting to avoid child safety questions

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TikTok backed out of a congressional committee's "public roundtable" set for this month over concerns it would be asked about child safety practices, the chair of the committee said . After negotiating "in good faith" to bring TikTok's chief security officer before the House Select Committee on China to answer questions about Chinese government access to Americans' data and the TikTok algorithm, Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI) said in a statement Thursday that the company reversed course. "Now, TikTok is refusing to appear citing its own desire to avoid broader scrutiny of its child safety practices," Moolenaar wrote. TikTok did not immediately … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/0xv7wmN

Uber beats Waymo as first to launch robotaxis in London

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Uber beat out Waymo in launching a commercial robotaxi service in London, the city's first. The vehicles use autonomous driving tech developed by Wayve , a UK-based startup, and will initially feature safety drivers behind the wheel. The launch is a milestone for Uber, which has been plotting a UK launch with Wayve for several years . In beating Waymo to the punch, it allows Uber to set the standard for the robotaxi experience for thousands of Londoners. It's also an early test of whether there's appetite for driverless ridehailing beyond the US and China, where most of the world's robotaxis are currently clustered. (There's a smattering in … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/MwxnJms

Google says its new Gemini 3.8 Flash model ‘works harder’ but might cost more

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Google launched Gemini 3.8 Flash , arriving just a few weeks after its predecessor . The company claims the new model "works harder" than Gemini 3.7 Flash by performing more reasoning steps on complex tasks and "calling tools iteratively." It has the same introductory pricing as 3.7 Flash, $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens, but could still end up costing users more. Google warns that "the model might use more tokens to maximize performance, especially at higher effort levels." Developers can keep using Gemini 3.7 Flash if they want to minimize token usage. Gemini 3.8 Flash's launch was followed by some early … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/GUWZeO5

1Password wades into a right-wing mess after funding a Linux project

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David Faugno, CEO at 1Password, at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 11th, 2025. | Photo: Zed Jameson / Bloomberg via Getty Image 1Password faced immediate backlash from customers this week over a $300,000 pledge in support of a Linux distro created by David Heinemeier Hansson, who has regularly published overtly racist blog posts that include comments calling for deportation of ethnic minorities in Europe. The popular password manager is now a " distinguished corporate patron " of Omacom, the nonprofit foundation that oversees a popular Linux distribution known as Omarchy. One viral blog post declared that 1Password "Supports the Ethnic Cleansing of Europe" because of the donation. Others on social media asked for suggestions for alternative password managers so they w … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/hba5zoL

Tim Cook did alright by the environment — but AI could upend his climate legacy

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As he steps down from his post as Apple CEO today, Tim Cook leaves behind a mostly positive environmental record. As far as billionaire tech moguls and the environment go, Cook will likely be remembered as one of the better ones - certainly far from the worst. But it will become harder for the company to meet the climate goals Cook set in place as Apple tries to catch up in the AI race . Under his watch, Apple set industry-leading goals for reducing the amount of pollution created by its products and suppliers. It has managed to keep its carbon footprint from growing while other tech giants see their emissions rise with the energy-needs of … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/0bP7p43

Apple accuses OpenAI of destroying evidence

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Apple is pushing for "expedited discovery" in its legal battle against OpenAI over concerns the company is actively destroying evidence, as reported earlier by Bloomberg . In a filing on Monday , Apple alleges OpenAI only just handed over a MacBook used by a former employee at the center of the lawsuit, which contained discussions about "destroying the types of forensic data Apple needs." This is the latest development in Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI, which accuses the ChatGPT-maker of stealing trade secrets to build an AI device. The lawsuit revolves around three former Apple employees who recently joined OpenAI, including Chang Liu, who a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/2lf9BQS

I went to the loneliest baseball game on Apple Vision Pro

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Ceddanne Rafaela is tagged out at home plate at Yankee Stadium on August 28th. | Getty Images This weekend, I strapped on an Apple Vision Pro to watch a baseball game in immersive virtual reality for the first time. It was technically impressive, visually pretty remarkable, and also didn't make that much sense. Apple and Major League Baseball chose a classic match-up of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees for the first of its series of four games streamed on the device . I do not review tech for The Verge , but I do watch a lot of baseball - if there's a game on and I'm at home, it's likely on my television. If this is the future of sports, live events, and wearable technology in general, I'd like to see what all the fuss is a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/gF1az4u

Alienware’s budget-friendly QD-OLED is discounted for the first time

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The Alienware AW2726DM is a wallet-friendly screen with premium features for gaming. While memory and storage prices are still high, there are still good discounts on other gaming-related hardware. Take Alienware’s AW2726DM , for example. Dell is selling it for $319.99, a $30 break from the usual price of $349.99. The 27-inch gaming monitor features an QD-OLED panel for deep, immersive black levels, and quantum dots for full and vivid colors. With a 240Hz refresh rate for super smooth gaming, and AMD FreeSync Premium Plus to keep your frames per second and refresh rate locked together, this monitor is a great, budget-friendly choice for PC gamers who don’t want to compromise on contrast and fast response times. Alienware AW2726DM QD-OLED monitor Where to Buy: $349.99 $319.99 at Dell Connectivity is a bit limited, with a DisplayPort 1.4 port that supports up to 240Hz at 2560 x 1440, and two HDMI ports that support up to 120Hz at its peak resolution....

ChatGPT to face tougher regulation in the EU

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OpenAI will soon be held accountable for mitigating risks related to ChatGPT's impact on minors, user mental health, and the spread of illegal content in the European Union. That's because ChatGPT is now considered a Very Large Online Search Engine under the EU's Digital Services Act, a set of laws regulating major online services and platforms . Along with ChatGPT, the European Commission also announced that Reddit and Roblox are considered Very Large Online Platforms, subjecting them to the same rules. The DSA restricts platforms from targeting ads to minors or using a person's sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or political beliefs. … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/MTInx8q

Instagram cracks down on AI accounts pretending to be human

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“AI creator” accounts like Aitana Lopez will get a new “AI-generated profile” label. | Image: Aitana Lopez Instagram is finally taking steps to address the rise of fake AI-influencer accounts that have gotten harder to spot . It's also renaming the "AI creator" label to "AI-generated profile" to make it clear when a profile features an AI-generated person that's not a real human being. "We've heard that people don't like seeing a profile that seems human, only to find out later that the person featured is AI-generated," said Instagram in a blog post . "They want to know when a profile features an AI-generated person." To that end, Instagram will be hunting down accounts that don't self-label their AI-generated profiles, and penalize them by limi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/NGz2QKe

Professor Murder Rides the Subway is a forgotten slice of dance punk perfection

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I recently dug out my CDs and started reripping them all . I've found a few forgotten gems in there, but few hit harder for me than the beautifully concise Professor Murder Rides the Subway EP. There was a period of time in the mid-aughts in NYC where it seemed like every indie band wanted you to let loose, dance like no one was watching, and just have some damn fun. Few embodied that as much as New York dance punk band Professor Murder. LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture were the biggest names of the dance punk revival. But there were also bands like Rahim, Liars, Dan Deacon, and countless lesser-known acts on DFA that you could see on any giv … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/B6UzVX5

Enormous 12TB Steam leak includes abandoned Half-Life 2: Episode 3 assets

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Over 12 terabytes of data, containing builds of every game uploaded to Steam between 2003 and 2013, has been leaked . We don't know everything in the archives yet because of its massive size. But people have already dug up assets related to the canceled Half-Life 2: Episode 3 , content cut from Portal 2 , and a build of a game called F-Stop that's set in the Portal universe but is built around a camera mechanic. The leak also includes titles from third-party developers. Early versions of Call of Duty and Resident Evil installments have been dug up, as have builds of Mirror's Edge , Batman: Arkham Asylum , and Dragon Age: Origins . And more is lik … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/CtD5LBd

Two new small, powerful Macs

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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 142, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, how is it almost September already, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been remembering Dolly Parton , Tim Curry , and Peter Cullen , absorbing everything in Rockstar's big GTA VI preview , wondering if Apple will announce a foldable iPhone at its September event , getting sucked into Summoning Salt's latest speedrunning documentary about competitive Tetris , listening to Weird Al's new Tiny Desk concert ("The Saga Begins!"), and getting a Reuben from my favorite lo … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/BeSnFjc

Alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported

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Alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos was arrested by ICE on Thursday, and today the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Reuters and the Washington Post that he had been deported to the UK. Yiannopoulos came to the US legally in 2019, but overstayed his visa. After he failed to appear in court for an immigration hearing, a final order of removal was issued ​on July 22. The British national made a name for himself as an editor at Steve Bannon's Breitbart and an early supporter of Donald Trump's. He has had a long history of controversial statements and associations, including reportedly helping arrange Trump's dinner with Kanye West an … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/PtDX8Cd

Sony Music and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic

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Sony Music and Warner Chappell have filed suit against Anthropic in the US District Court for the Northern District of California seeking damages for "tens of thousands" copyrighted works. The companies are asking for up to $150,000 per work, plus up to $25,000 for each instance when identifiable copyright data was stripped. In total, the damages could amount to several billion dollars if a court finds in Sony and Warner's favor and awards the maximum amount. This is just the latest high-profile suit against Anthropic, which recently settled a suit brought by the publishing industry for $1.5 billion . It's also faced multiple lawsuits from … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/3cIwuZJ