Error message

  • Deprecated function: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; views_display has a deprecated constructor in require_once() (line 3080 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; views_many_to_one_helper has a deprecated constructor in require_once() (line 113 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/ctools/ctools.module).
  • Notice: Undefined offset: 5 in user_node_load() (line 3604 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Trying to get property 'name' of non-object in user_node_load() (line 3604 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Undefined offset: 5 in user_node_load() (line 3605 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Trying to get property 'picture' of non-object in user_node_load() (line 3605 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Undefined offset: 5 in user_node_load() (line 3606 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Trying to get property 'data' of non-object in user_node_load() (line 3606 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/modules/user/user.module).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type int in element_children() (line 6401 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: The each() function is deprecated. This message will be suppressed on further calls in menu_set_active_trail() (line 2386 of /home/ewg56ffgqu3p/public_html/includes/menu.inc).

News

Act Now to Grab a Free Samsung Galaxy A17 Smartphone for Kids With Troomi - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 06:55
This 5G smartphone allows your kid to stay connected to you while preventing them from doomscrolling on unsafe apps.
Photo and Video Editing in ChatGPT Just Got an Adobe-Size Update - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 09:00
Adobe’s plugin adds over 70 new photo, video and document editing capabilities inside ChatGPT.
These Studies Show Even One Home Security Camera Is a Deal-Breaker for Burglars - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 06:00
If you’re wondering whether one security device could make a difference at home, here’s the proof — and why it works.
Bose’s New QuietComfort Headphones Are Truly Next Gen. Here’s What I Like About Them - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 09:00
The 2026 second-generation QC Headphones offer design, feature and performance upgrades that makes them seem like a true 2.0 product.
Hers Adds an AI Tool to Help Women Navigate Weight Loss and GLP-1 Use - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 09:35
Hers is testing the new feature with weight loss patients on GLP-1 medications, but plans to expand the service.
Google’s Ask Maps Lets You Get More Done Conversationally, Thanks to AI - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 08:30
Ask Maps has also expanded to a number of new countries.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Extended Preview Will Debut on Netflix This Month - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 10:22
The streaming service will get the first look before the presentation becomes available on YouTube.
Amazon Deals of the Day: Upgrade to a QLED TV for an Impressive 30% Off - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 11:16
Plus, score over $100 off the Dyson Ball Animal 2 Plus vacuum and $40 off the Ring Spotlight Cam Plus.
'It's not our job to make the audience comfortable': Gugu Mbatha-Raw on why new supernatural Sky TV thriller Possession will make colonial history 'accessible' — not more palatable - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 19:00

If you like the aesthetic vibes of colonial gothic horror stories such as Jamaica Inn and Wide Sargasso Sea, new Sky TV supernatural thriller Possession is definitely for you. However, a word of warning — the story is going to touch a much more modern nerve.

We're set to follow Claudia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious bi-racial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man against a wealthy white aristocrat.

However, she arrives to find the disputed estate is a former plantation that has long haunted her dreams. Cue a terrifying slew of 1800s flashbacks, curses, and misunderstood spiritual connection.

On a surface level, you can see why someone might find this frightening. The drama isn't just tense to the level of consistent jump scares, but is often violently disturbing in its commitment to guts and gore (think Evil Dead levels of supernatural horror).

But then there's a secondary layer of discomfort when you consider the role that different countries have played in the history of colonialism and enslaved people. Culturally and historically, we know how abhorrently the Western world behaved during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, but here, we also understand how regularly spirituality and beliefs were misunderstood and chastised.

With such a distinct 2026 twist, Possession left me shaken in the entirely opposite way to what I expected. But according to star Gugu Mbatha-Raw, it's not the cast and crew's job to make the uncomfortable comfortable.

'The power of drama is posing these lofty subjects in an accessible way'

"I don't think it's our job to make the audience comfortable... I think probably it's more our job to take you on a journey," Mbatha-Raw tells me when I ask her if it's possible to make the uncomfortable comfortable.

"Claudia goes on this massive journey and it's a quest to find out about her identity. She's dealing with justice and legacy. But even though there's some weighty themes in the show around the legacy of colonialism and the complexity of reparations, I think that that's the power of drama. Pose these lofty subjects, but in a more accessible way."

"I don't know that 'comfortable' is the word. I think that we celebrate discomfort in this genre, and I think that that's okay. It's okay to have difficult conversations and to not shy away from uncomfortable subject matter. I think there's a place for that in drama and in society."

She continues, "Good stories a place for discovery, and I think we want people to lean in and be like, 'whoa, look at this lush, interesting, rich, vibrant world.' Once they're in, they grapple with some hard truths."

It's certainly an apt way of describing the intense viewing journey that unfolds over just five episodes, each being under an hour long. Simply put, Possession is the kind of TV show that sits with you for days and weeks afterward, leaving you with the kind of internal conversation that unpicks the things that you think you already know.

That's a lot for anybody to take on, particularly when you've simply sat down to unwind with some TV of an evening. But what is art when it doesn't challenge us? If you want my advice: Possession is more than worth a watch — and if you're left feeling disturbed, then that's all the better.

NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, August 6 (game #886) - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 19:00
Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #885).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Blossoming forth

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • WRATH
  • LION
  • GOON
  • FLOW
  • HATRED
  • BEER
NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 1st column

Last side: top, 5th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #886) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #886, are…

  • CHERRY
  • REDBUD
  • DOGWOOD
  • HAWTHORN
  • MAGNOLIA
  • SPANGRAM: FLOWERINGTREE
  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: 1 hint

This game came to me in stages.

First I managed to find CHERRY while searching for non-game words, then in the belief that we were looking for fruit trees I took a hint and was given REDBUD, which changed my thinking completely.

Spotting “tree” and “flower” I managed to put together the spangram and then complete the board. Like the act of gardening and maintaining a FLOWERINGTREE it felt like a long, but rewarding process.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, August 5, game #885)
  • IDEA
  • THOUGHT
  • OPINION
  • PLAN
  • NOTION
  • CONCEPT
  • SPANGRAM: BRAINSTORMING
What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, August 6 (game #1152) - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 19:00
Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #1151).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • SWIMMING POOL
  • TENNIS COURT
  • FREEWAY
  • HOCKEY RINK
  • BARCLAYS CENTER
  • COLOSSEUM
  • SUPERMARKET
  • JACOB'S LADDER
  • PANTHEON
  • BOWLING ALLEY
  • LINCOLN LOGS
  • SPANISH STEPS
  • ALPHABET
  • BLOCKS
  • FISHING BOAT
  • TREVI FOUNTAIN
  • CUP-AND-BALL
NYT Connections today (game #1152) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: Things kids play with
  • GREEN: Linked by something you must stay in
  • BLUE: Well known tourist attractions
  • PURPLE: Linked by something you could get caught in

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: CLASSIC WOODEN TOYS
  • GREEN: PLACES WITH LANES
  • BLUE: ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS
  • PURPLE: PLACES WITH NETS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1152, are…

  • YELLOW: CLASSIC WOODEN TOYS: ALPHABET BLOCKS, CUP-AND-BALL, JACOB'S LADDER, LINCOLN LOGS
  • GREEN: PLACES WITH LANES: BOWLING ALLEY, FREEWAY, SUPERMARKET, SWIMMING POOL
  • BLUE: ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS: COLOSSEUM, PANTHEON, SPANISH STEPS, TREVI FOUNTAIN
  • PURPLE: PLACES WITH NETS: BARCLAYS CENTER, FISHING BOAT, HOCKEY RINK, TENNIS COURT
  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: 2 mistakes

I was utterly confused by today’s game, but somehow managed to get away with just two mistakes.

The only thing I was certain of was that BARCLAYS CENTER is the home of the Brooklyn Nets, but this meager piece of knowledge didn’t help at all. First, I linked BOWLING ALLEY, SWIMMING POOL, HOCKEY RINK and TENNIS COURT thinking these were all amenities every town should have (they are right).

Then after threading together ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS with the idea that they all sounded like historical tourist spots, I made another mistake linking ALPHABET BLOCKS, TENNIS COURT, BOWLING ALLEY and BARCLAYS CENTER — reasoning that they all described types of buildings.

Somehow, shuffling around the various options got me over the line, but this really was a game I should have lost.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, August 5, 2026, game #1151)
  • YELLOW: NAVIGATE: DRIVE, MANEUVER, PILOT, STEER
  • GREEN: JEANS BRANDS: DIESEL, GAP, LUCKY, WRANGLER
  • BLUE: HOUSE STYLES: CAPE COD, MISSION, RANCH, TUDOR
  • PURPLE: WHAT "STOCK" MIGHT REFER TO: BROTH, CATTLE, INVESTMENT, MERCHANDISE
What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, August 6 (game #1655) - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 19:00
Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #1654).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• B

• C

• B

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1655) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1655, are…

  • AMUSE
  • BRAND
  • CEDAR
  • BLURB

After seeing the two B-words immediately I made a wrong guess with my third word.

Fortunately, the letters I had left meant that after guessing “pause” AMUSE was the only alternative, while CEDAR was just a case of rearranging five letters.

Daily Sequence today (game #1655) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1655, are…

  • WEARY
  • THREE
  • SUNNY
  • TOPIC
Quordle answers: The past 20
  • Quordle #1654, Wednesday, 5 August: MOUND, WRONG, STOOD, WEIRD
  • Quordle #1653, Tuesday, 4 August: GOOEY, TARDY, HUMAN, CHALK
  • Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
  • Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
  • Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
  • Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
  • Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
  • Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
  • Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
  • Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
  • Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
  • Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
  • Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
  • Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
  • Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
  • Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
  • Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
  • Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
  • Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
  • Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX
FBI agent accused of stealing $1 million in crypto — and he even consulted ChatGPT on how to leave the country - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 19:20
  • A former FBI counterintelligence supervisor is accused of memorizing seed phrases from bureau systems
  • The agent moved roughly $1 million out of wallets tied to a foreign adversary without having to resort to any sort of hacking
  • Investigators recovered ChatGPT conversations in which he asked how to invest the money and how to gain EU residency, and the chatbot's replies recited his age, wife, child, and property plans back to him

Patrick Steven Yaroch, a supervisory special agent in the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, has been arrested and charged with interstate transportation and receipt of stolen goods.

An affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, claims Yaroch took roughly a million dollars in cryptocurrency from wallets he encountered while investigating a foreign adversary and then used ChatGPT to determine what to do with it.

The theft, as described, required no technical sophistication whatsoever: Yaroch held a Top Secret clearance with SCI access and had spent 2017 to 2025 on a national security squad at the FBI's Boston division working against a single adversarial nation, which NBC News reports was Russia.

An atypical heist with the alleged mastermind acting out of "frustration"

Patrick Steven Yaroch encountered the cryptocurrency wallets tied to his work in November 2024. He had researched how wallets work, created one of his own, searched the FBI's holdings for the relevant account information, and memorized the recovery seed phrases.

He then made roughly 10-12 transfers to his own wallet. No encryption was broken, and no protocol was exploited because none was in place for a man with his security clearance; he simply read a phrase off an internal system and remembered it.

The incident is particularly interesting because he self-reported, effectively turning himself in to his colleagues: on July 28 2026, he contacted a Justice Department employee he had worked with in Boston over Signal, asking to meet. They met at FBI headquarters the next day, where Yaroch reportedly began breaking down almost immediately, and the conversation moved to the other man's office.

He said the situation was "eating him up inside" and that he wanted to give all the money back. He filed an online self-report to the FBI's Security Division and told headquarters personnel he had screwed up. When agents arrived at his Ashburn home that evening, he told them, unprompted and in blunter terms, that he had messed up.

His defense, as per the affidavit, however, is slightly different from what one would expect: His stated motive was not greed. He told his colleagues he had grown frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against those accounts, described himself as "spinning out of control" at the time, and said he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Despite this, he seemingly had a change of heart after cooperating earlier, asking for a paper containing his wallet seed phrases, which he had volunteered to agents, while declining to continue the interview without a lawyer while asking for time over the next two days.

This culminated in agents obtaining warrants, executing them on July 31 with SWAT securing the house, and recovering an iPhone, a Trezor hardware wallet, the handwritten seed phrases, a Portuguese power of attorney dated June 15, and three passports, one of them diplomatic.

(Image credit: Marjan Apostolovic / Shutterstock)

Ironically, the most potentially damning evidence of his intentions comes from his conversations with AI, still on his phone and directly linked to him.

His conversations with ChatGPT convey a very different thought process: On May 28, he asked how to invest or spend a million dollars to maximize profit and return. On June 4, he asked what someone with about a million dollars should do to leave the United States and become a resident or citizen of an EU country. On June 17 he asked whether an American connecting through Turkey needs a visa. On June 26 he asked for help drafting an email to an executive about a job opening and life in Greece.

There is more evidence that he might already have acted based on the answers he received: prosecutors have found a power of attorney authorizing two Portuguese lawyers to register him with the country's tax authority and obtain a Portuguese tax identification number, and unreported foreign travel to Germany in May, Portugal later that month, and Grenada in early July, all in breach of bureau reporting rules.

His current investments seem to be equally erratically reasoned: On July 23, five days before he first confessed, Yaroch moved roughly $1.02 million into Suilend, a lending protocol on the Sui blockchain, reaching it through the Slush wallet app, which he then deleted. He parked the funds there to earn interest. When asked why he chose that service, he said he liked its logo, a water droplet.

When agents looked, the position was worth $933,756, roughly 8% below its level a week earlier. His Kraken account held another $188,570, including about $5,000 in a token called Squid and $1.67 in Bitcoin. Agents ultimately swept $925,426 into government wallets, leaving about $165,582 behind because it was dollars and could not be moved to a crypto wallet.

Yaroch is charged under sections 2314 and 2315 of the federal criminal code, the general provisions on transporting and receiving stolen goods. He is not charged with espionage, with computer fraud, or with theft of government property.

The wallets were not the government's, and that might change how they are treated legally, even as it raises important questions about the security protocols at federal agencies regarding cryptocurrencies, since they both monitor and have seized increasingly large amounts of them over the past few years.

In Yaroch's case, if the allegations hold, government protocols failed to identify the theft for nearly eighteen months before the person responsible reported himself, making the case for a potential review by federal agencies about how they handle such matters.

Forget Sidecar, someone just got the real macOS working on an iPad — and it proves it’d be a terrible idea - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 20:00
  • Virtual Mac on iPad gets macOS running on compatible iPads
  • It requires a jailbroken tablet and specific versions of iPadOS
  • Its many limitations mean I don’t think it’s worth the hassle

For years, people have been wondering if Apple is ever going to “merge” iPadOS and macOS into some unholy mutant operating system. While Apple has repeatedly and resoundingly denied that’s ever going to happen, one intrepid developer has taken it upon themselves to do the hard work instead. And while the result lets you run full-fat macOS on your iPad Pro or iPad Air, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the hardiest of souls.

Dubbed Virtual Mac on iPad, this GitHub project ports macOS onto Apple’s best iPads. That means it’s nothing like Apple’s Sidecar feature, which lets you use an iPad as a second display for a Mac. In the case of Sidecar, the Mac is doing all the processing. With Virtual Mac on iPad, however, it’s your iPad that’s actually running the operating system.

Unfortunately, getting that to actually happen is more than a little convoluted. You can’t even get started unless you’ve jailbroken your iPad, which means hacking it so it can run apps and systems not authorized by Apple. As well as that, the jailbroken iPad must be running iPadOS 16 to iPadOS 16.3.1 — nothing more, nothing less — in order to harness an exploit that was patched in subsequent editions. The requirements so far will probably be enough to put a lot of people off.

If you’ve persevered, you’ll need to add a specified repository to your device and install Virtual Mac on iPad from there. But you’ll need to be aware that even with macOS successfully set up, you won’t be able to log into your Apple Account — since you’re using a jailbroken device with an unofficial port of macOS, you’ll run into problems if you try to sign in, putting features like Find My and iCloud syncing out of reach.

Is it worth it?

(Image credit: Apple)

Why would you go to all this effort to run macOS on your iPad? Well, there are a few reasons, including accessing Mac-only apps and getting a more portable platform to run macOS on.

But I certainly don’t think it’s a good idea. Apple’s iPadOS and macOS systems have been designed for very different use cases, and simply shoehorning a platform designed for a Mac onto an iPad isn’t a guarantee of success.

For one thing, macOS is made for large screens and input devices like mice and keyboards, while iPadOS works best on smaller screens operated by your fingers and thumbs. Sure, there’s some crossover — I’m aware that you can use mice and keyboards with an iPad, for example — but that doesn’t escape the fact that Virtual Mac on iPad puts the Mac’s operating system on a device it was never intended for.

As well as that, it requires a lot of effort for seemingly very small rewards. There are only a handful of cases where installing Virtual Mac on iPad is worthwhile, at least in my opinion: accessing apps like Xcode and Terminal that aren’t available in iPadOS, for example, or getting macOS on the most portable device possible.

But Apple’s best MacBooks are still lightweight and easy to carry around, and with a touchscreen MacBook Pro rumored to be just around the corner and Sidecar already a thing, the need for something like Virtual Mac on iPad feels limited. Is it worthwhile to go to all this trouble just for an ounce more portability? I’m sure it is for some people, but that number is likely to be vanishingly small.

At the end of the day, I know there will be some people for whom this is a welcome development. But its complicated installation process and limited use case just reinforce for me that Apple is absolutely right not to merge iPadOS and macOS. They’re meant to be separate, just as Apple intended.

I tested Turtle Beach’s massive mechanical gaming keyboard, and it has the lowest key profile I’ve ever seen — but there’s another feature that steals the show - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 20:00
Turtle Beach Command Series KB5: One-minute review

The Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 is a full-size keyboard with an interesting display module that has more functionality than many others.

However, the board fails to make a great first impression. It looks dated with its unnecessary angles, while the plastic materials feel cheap. The brushed metal face plate is a nice touch, though, as are the floating double-shot PBT keycaps. It’s also quite a light unit, especially so for a keyboard this size.

The included wrist rest also feels like a low-grade plastic, and doesn’t attach magnetically like those bundled with some of the best gaming keyboards. Instead, it relies on a somewhat fiddly — but ultimately secure — mechanical attachment. And despite its lack of padding, its ergonomic contours offer sufficient levels of comfort. The rest also helps to make up for the KB5’s shallow tilt angle, even with the two-stage feet propping it up.

The standout feature of the KB5, though, is its interactive touchscreen in the top-right corner of the unit. It lacks the responsiveness we’ve come to expect of modern touchscreens, taking multiple swipes and taps for it to register them. However, it has a lot of useful functions and features, with plenty of settings for the KB5 itself, as well as a wealth of customizable shortcuts and readouts for Windows and various apps.

(Image credit: Future)

These shortcuts can be customized using Turtle Beach’s Swarm 2 software. There are a wide variety of templates to choose from, but you can also create your own shortcut clusters from a wide selection of widgets. The software also has a generous selection of remapping and macro options, although there aren’t any performance-related adjustments. I wish it provided more explanations for its features, too.

In action, the KB5 performs reasonably well. The keycaps have a very low profile, which makes them easy to glide over, while the switches are satisfyingly damped. However, presses are a little heavier than you might expect, sometimes resulting in taps failing to register, especially if you have a light touch. This is more of an issue when typing than gaming.

The WASD position is comfortable and the keys are well spaced, making it easy to reach them. I could easily hit the space bar flush, thanks to its low profile and generous slant. However, the sheer width of the board can result in collisions when swiping your mouse vigorously.

At $150 / £140, the KB5 isn’t exactly a budget-friendly board, and is especially dear for one with no wireless connectivity and a less-than premium construction. The integrated touchscreen and large layout make up for this somewhat, but the fact remains there are better value rivals if you don’t need all those keys and a sophisticated display.

(Image credit: Future)Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 review: Price & availability
  • $149.99 / £139.99 (about AU$210)
  • Available now in one colorway
  • Reasonably expensive for a wired mechanical keyboard.

The KB5 costs $149.99 / £139.99 (about AU$210) and is available now in one colorway. It comes with a braided USB cable, an attachable wrist rest, and extra WASD keys with a grippier texture. You can remove the stock ones using the included keycap puller.

This is quite expensive for a wired mechanical keyboard. Granted, it’s a full-size board with plenty of keys, but it lacks the premium build of some of its cheaper rivals, such as the MonsGeek FUN60 Ultra. This is an extremely solid unit, and its gaming performance is as good if not better than the KB5’s, with its analog switches providing more adjustability. It also has multiple wireless connectivity modes.

Then there’s the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro. This is vastly more expensive than the KB5, but it’s one of the best performing mechanical keyboards I’ve ever used, and its software and build quality are superior. What’s more, its included wrist rest is far more plush, and it also has multiple wireless modes.

  • Value score: 3.5 / 5
Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 review: Specs

Layout

Full-size

Switch

Mechanical (Titan Low-Profile Linear)

Programmable keys

Yes

Dimensions

18.8 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches (477 x 175 x 27mm)

RGB or backlighting

Yes (customizable)

(Image credit: Future)Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 review: Design & features
  • Gamer-ish design
  • Cheap-feeling plastics
  • Useful integrated display

The KB5 leans into the gamer aesthetic, with its odd contours along the top edge and flashes of brown. Personally, I found this look a little garish and quite dated, although I did like the brushed metal front plate and its countersunk screws, which are prominently displayed. These are also quite practical since they’re easily accessible.

Overall, the build quality is less impressive. The plastic of the chassis feels cheap, although in fairness it’s also quite light, which means this large keyboard isn’t a chore to move around. Another plus is the keycaps are made from double-shot PBT, the gold standard keycap material, and they’re solidly fitted.

The notching on the cylindrical volume wheel feels good too, making for easy flicks while at the same time offering fine control. However, it can be hard to press inwards to mute without accidentally triggering a scroll.

A wrist rest is included with the KB5, which is always a welcome addition in my view. However, it appears to be made from the same cut-price plastic as the keyboard itself. And while it actually attaches to the keyboard, it requires snapping latches in place, which is certainly less elegant than the magnetic method utilized by many others.

On a more positive note, the display in the top-right corner is larger, sharper, and more interactive than many others I’ve seen integrated in keyboards. It also has touchscreen functionality, although this is fairly rudimentary and gestures often require repeating two or three times before the display responds. Also, the texture of the screen itself is a little grippy, which can hamper swipes.

Nonetheless, it offers a lot of features. By tapping the left side of the screen, you can access three pages of settings for the KB5, with options to toggle ReacTap (Turtle Beach's Rapid Trigger function), remap keys, and alter the RGB backlighting, to name a few.

(Image credit: Future)

There are also three pages of widgets, with each page containing a cluster of six. These can be customized using Swarm 2, Turtle Beach’s peripheral software. You’ll find a large selection of template clusters to choose from, catering to various use cases. For instance, there’s a gaming one that features a shortcut widget for opening Steam, while the other widgets display CPU and GPU loads and temperatures. There’s also a template for general productivity, with widgets for copying and pasting and opening Windows’ Calculator app.

You can also edit and create your own templates by selecting each individual widget. In addition to common Windows commands and multimedia controls, there are app-specific widgets for Steam, OBS, Steamlabs, and Discord. There are also those under a section labelled ‘CS’, although it’s unclear what game or games in the Counter-Strike series these widgets are compatible with. All I can say is that they failed to work with Counter-Strike 2 when I played it.

Swarm 2 features other customizations, including key reassignment. There is a generous selection of shortcuts you can assign, and four mapping layers to choose from: primary, Fn, Game Mode, and Easy Shift. You can also remap the scrolls and button of the volume wheel, which isn’t always possible on gaming keyboards. More impressively, the wheel has the same four layers of assignments available to it.

There are a wealth of preset macros to choose from as well, not only across a broad selection of games, but also for other software such as Photoshop. However, a lot of the other macros are quite basic, merely boiling down to simple inputs and system commands.

During my time with Swarm 2, it performed well without any major bugs or glitches occurring. There were times when the RGB backlighting failed to turn on, but whether this was an issue with the app or the keyboard’s own firmware, I can’t say. Regardless, I managed to get it working again by unplugging and replugging the USB cable, or by turning the lighting off then on again in the app.

Swarm 2 is easy to use and navigate, although it could do with more explanations for some of its features. For instance, I couldn’t find any explanation as to how to access the Easy Shift and Game Mode layers, and the ReacTap feature isn’t toggleable anywhere in the app, only via the integrated screen. Neither location explains what it does or how it works; I had to gather this information from Turtle Beach's website.

  • Design and features score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 review: Performance
  • Very low-profile keys
  • Deep actuation point detrimental to typing
  • Board width can hamper mouse movement

In general, the KB5 is a capable gaming keyboard. Its Titan mechanical switches are damped to a large degree, making them tactile and relatively quiet, although a certain clickiness emanates from key presses.

The keys also have a very low profile, perhaps the lowest I’ve ever come across. I appreciated this when typing, since I could glide between them easily, but their actuation point is deeper than you might expect, resulting in hits often failing to register when I typed quickly.

(Image credit: Future)

Thankfully, this is less of an issue when gaming. Also, the indents on the keycaps offer a secure hold, while the WASD position is comfortable thanks to the spacing of the keys, which is large enough to avoid feeling cramped, yet all the peripheral keys are still easy to reach. What’s more, the space bar slopes downwards slightly, making flush hits easier to achieve.

However, the KB5’s lack of tilt is slightly disappointing. Despite having two stages, the feet don’t create much of an angle, which is something I often lament in gaming keyboards. The included wrist rest does make up for this somewhat, thanks to its sloping design, and it’s comfortable to use. Despite the lack of padding, a bigger issue with the KB5 is its sheer width. If you like using a low DPI setting for your mouse and need to make large movements, you may find yourself slamming into the side of the board.

  • Performance score: 3.5 / 5
Should I buy the Turtle Beach Command Series KB5?Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

It may be full-size and have mechanical switches, but its plasticky build and wired-only connectivity diminish its value.

3.5 / 5

Design and features

Fairly light for a full-size board, and the included wrist rest is comfortable, but the plastic-heavy construction and finicky touchscreen are downsides.

3.5 / 5

Performance

The low-profile keys are easy to glide around, but the actuation isn’t snappy enough and the wide layout can get in the way of mouse swipes.

3.5 / 5

Overall

The KB5 has some interesting features, but a few issues hamper its performance, and build quality lags behind others in the space.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want an interactive screen
The KB5 has a unique touchscreen that gives you access to various settings and customizable widgets.

You want keys with a very low profile
This board has the lowest key profile I think I’ve ever seen, and they feel great.

Don't buy it if…

You have large mouse swipes
Given how wide the KB5 is, you need to take care with large mouse movements.

You have a light touch
The switches’ actuation point is deeper than their low profile might lead you to believe, which can result in taps failing to register.

Turtle Beach Command Series KB5 review: Also consider

Monsgeek FUN60 Ultra
For a lot less than the KB5, you could have the FUN60 Ultra. It has analog rather than mechanical switches, but I found them to be very tactile, and their actuation, along with a load of other parameters, can be adjusted to suit your preferences. Not only that, but it has a much more solid build than the KB5, and features 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity modes. Read our full Monsgeek FUN60 Ultra review.

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75
It may be a lot more expensive than the KB5, but the BlackWidow is just about the best mechanical keyboard I’ve ever used. The switches feel excellent, while there are plenty of customizations courtesy of Razer’s Synapse app. This too has both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth modes. Read our full Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Turtle Beach Command Series KB5
  • Tested for a few days
  • Performed various tasks
  • Plentiful gaming keyboard experience

I tested the KB5 for a few days, during which time I used it for gaming, general browsing, and working.

I played various games, including Counter-Strike 2, a great title for revealing the true performance of peripherals, given the demands it places on the speed and accuracy of inputs.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and have used a great many keyboards in that time. I’ve also reviewed a large number of them, from small budget models to large premium offerings, across a wide range of brands.

  • First reviewed: August 2026
  • Read more about how we test
'This one page changed my life': Michael Dell shows off the document which helped set him on the path to business success - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 20:10
  • Michael Dell marked 42 years since PC's Limited by reposting its 31 July 1984 statement, showing ~$135,000 of net income on roughly a million dollars of sales from $1,000 of starting capital
  • The document, which he also showed in March 2018, served as a baseline for him to persuade his parents to let him skip university
  • The decision helped make him a billionaire and turned Dell into a company that is currently worth over a quarter of a trillion dollars thanks to an AI-centric surge of late

Michael Dell has posted a photograph of a fairly unique single sheet of paper to X and LinkedIn: the quarterly financial statement for PC's Limited, dated 31 July 1984, produced from a dorm room at the University of Texas at Austin.

The page shows roughly a million dollars in sales, about $198,000 in gross profit, and net income of $134,762.75 for the three-month period.

The then 19-year-old Dell had just finished his freshman year as a pre-med student, and had started the business with $1,000. He used the statement to persuade his parents that he should not go back for his sophomore year.

A multi-billion dollar decision backed by receipts

This one page changed my life.42 years ago today, it convinced my parents I shouldn't go back to college.I started by upgrading PCs from a dorm room.Today @Dell is helping build the infrastructure that powers AI, from the edge to some of the world's largest AI factories.… pic.twitter.com/OF3KTMrBeHJuly 31, 2026

Nothing on the page suggests or requires a leap of faith. It suggests the opposite: a 19-year-old who had already been running a business through an academic year, who had generated close to a million dollars of turnover, who had kept books well enough to separate gross profit from net income, and who understood that the way to win an argument with two skeptical parents was to hand them a profit and loss statement.

The decision to leave college was not a gamble that happened to pay off. It was the conclusion the numbers already supported, and Dell was sharp enough at 19 to know that presenting them in a document would carry more weight than simply presenting them as enthusiastic conversation starters.

The decision that followed allows Michael Dell to command a $236.7 billion net worth, as reported by Forbes, and to lead a company with a market cap north of $270 billion. What makes Michael Dell's story unique, however, is that it isn't the typical dropout-founder story usually told as one about conviction outrunning evidence. The document he brought to the table is evidence outrunning conviction.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

It raises an interesting parallel: The question one needs to ask is not whether to bet on yourself, but at what point do you have enough data to stop calling it a bet and start calling it a data-driven conclusion.

It is also worth noting that this is not the page's first outing. Dell posted the same statement to Twitter in March 2018, describing it then as the document he used to convince his parents "it was OK for me to not go back to college".

What the document shows, when read carefully, is a teenager who has figured out something about persuasion that many people twice his age never do. His parents were not going to be moved by a description of the market for IBM-compatible upgrades.

They were going to be moved by a number they could check, printed on a page, covering a period that had already happened. Dell did not ask them to believe in the future of the personal computer. He showed them what he had already earned and let them draw their own conclusions.

The result was a computer-centric giant that makes many of the desktops, laptops, and servers that power the modern world and is synonymous with reliable tech for many users. One could argue that the singular page did not change his life. The quarter behind it did. The page was just the format he could use to prove it, and the rest is history.

On the hunt for a new Dell laptop? These are the best models we've tested recently - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 21:00

TechRadar's Computing team tests dozens of laptops each year, and Dell models consistently impress. I know, because when I came to round up our top-scoring options for this article, I struggled to find any duds. I was spoiled for choice. Below, you'll find a showcase of the Dell laptops that we've reviewed over the past year or so, and which managed to earn four stars or higher when put through our demanding review process.

Most are high-end laptops that rival the best the likes of Apple have to offer, but you'll also find some brilliant affordable options, and some versatile 2-in-1s that would make a top choice for students. I've also included a standout gaming option, as well as a stellar laptop for professionals.

To find out more about each one, click the View details button — this will provide a rundown of our main pros and cons for each model, plus a link to our full review. Alternatively, if you want to see how these laptops compare to one another, check out our best Dell laptop ranking, or for our favorites from a range of brands, head to our comprehensive best laptop guide. Have I missed any models you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments section.

4.5-star Dell laptops

Dell XPS 16 (2026) laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Outstanding hardware and performance
  • Exceptional clean design all round
  • Phenomenal battery life for an Intel chip
  • Beautiful, almost bezel-less 3K OLED screen
Cons
  • Three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and that's it
  • Pricey, pricey, pricey

Dell 14 Plus budget laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Great productivity and everyday performance
  • Fantastic price
  • Very portable
  • Solid battery life
Cons
  • Limited configuration options
  • MacBook Air 13 (M4) is better value
  • Trackpad can be tricky
  • Display isn’t great

Dell 16 Premium laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Outstanding performance
  • Cheaper than MacBook Pro 16-inch
  • Gorgeous OLED display option
Cons
  • Battery Life for OLED model is mediocre
  • Apple M4 Pro can greatly outperform Intel Arrow Lake chip in some cases

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Snappy performance
  • Thin and light
  • Very long, impressive battery life
Cons
  • Feels very slightly overpriced
  • Audio, keyboard, and touchpad are just fine

Alienware 16 Area-51 Gaming Laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Beautiful Yet Logical Design
  • Outstanding Gaming Performance
  • Mechanical keyboard
  • Respectable speakers
  • Blistering display performance
Cons
  • Overall, the image quality on display is lacking & no HDR support
  • Battery life outside of gaming is on the low side

Dell XPS 13 (2025) laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Gorgeous 3K OLED screen
  • Best-in-class battery life
  • Strong overall performance
  • Copilot+ ready
Cons
  • Not enough ports
  • Touchpad and touch bar hurt accessibility
4-star Dell laptops

Dell XPS 14 (2026) laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Excellent redesign
  • Very good performance
  • OLED version looks fantastic
Cons
  • Only three USB-C ports
  • Windows 11 feels bloated
  • Still no AI killer app

Dell Chromebook 3120 budget laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Tough build
  • Very portable
  • Decent all-round performance
Cons
  • Compromised display size
  • Frustrating touchpad
  • Inconsistent keyboard

Dell 16 Plus laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Solid lightweight design with a full keyboard
  • Affordable
  • Fantastic general performance
  • Nice looking 120Hz display
  • Respectable battery life
Cons
  • Webcam isn’t great
  • Lacks SD card slot and touchscreen
  • Limited gaming and creative task performance
  • Speakers sound weak, especially the bass

Dell 14 Premium Laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Discrete RTX 4050 graphics option
  • Highly portable
  • Same price or cheaper than a MacBook Pro 14-inch
Cons
  • Design is a bit boring
  • No physical privacy shutter on webcam
  • Falls way behind rival MacBook Pro in some workloads

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Very affordable
  • Solid performance
  • Good looking
Cons
  • Display is not great
  • Not for high-performance workloads

Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Excellent battery life
  • Solid construction
  • Thunderbolt ports
  • Beautifully made
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Core Ultra Series 1
  • Insufficient storage
  • Needs a docking station

Dell Pro 14 Premium business laptop

Read our full review

Pros
  • Latest Intel silicon
  • High-quality webcam
  • Exceptional battery life
  • Lightweight frame
  • Collaboration touchpad
  • Great keyboard
  • AI built-in (Intelligent privacy, onlooker detection, etc.)
  • Excellent connectivity (5G, Wi-Fi 7E, Bluetooth 5.4)
Cons
  • Underwhelming CPU performance
  • Expensive
  • Not XPS build quality
  • Limited upgrades
  • - The collaboration touchpad is limited
  • The display is good, but not great
Could Meta Ray-Bans be banned in Europe? EU regulators dial up the pressure on smart glasses — and the rest of the world is watching - Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 22:00
  • Smart glasses bans are being introduced and considered
  • There are growing concerns over smart glasses privacy
  • Could hardware changes solve people's concerns?

I’ve written a lot about the high likelihood of major smart glasses regulation being introduced in various regions as the technology garners more and more bad press, and as expected, we’re starting to see bans and other restrictions take shape.

No nation has yet to all-out ban smart glasses, but a few have outlawed their use in certain scenarios while others are investigating harsher measures. Some private companies, such as event organizers, have also banned smart glasses on their premises and at their conferences.

Of course, this is bad news for smart specs owners who now could be facing restrictions on where they can/can’t wear their intelligent eyewear. For anyone considering adding smart glasses to their technology arsenal, these possible restrictions should be taken into account when making your final purchase decision.

So where are we starting to see smart glasses bans? Here’s a selection of the countries investigating and introducing anti-intelligent eyewear rules.

(Image credit: Magic Leap)United States

Generally, smart glasses can be worn freely in the US; however, New York State has banned them from being used in any of its courts. Smart glasses with recording capabilities could be seen as an attempt to intimidate those involved in the case, and some cases contain sensitive private information where unauthorized recordings could impose serious risks.

Other states have introduced less widespread bans in courts — including Philadelphia, Hawaii, and North Carolina.

Meanwhile, the US Air Force includes in its rules for service members that they are “Unauthorized to wear mirrored lenses or smart glasses with photo, video or artificial intelligence capabilities while in uniform.” This seems like more of a presentation thing than an anti-smart specs rule (especially given the inclusion of mirrored specs), but it does mean you can’t wear intelligent eyewear in uniform regardless.

Further, attendees of conventions such as major hacker conference DEF CON 34 have been barred from wearing Meta glasses or similar. These bans focus on the possibility of glasses recording folks without their knowledge — with organizers arguing the recording light some glasses offer isn’t the most obvious.

UK

(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)

In the UK, things are much the same. Courts don’t ban their use, though after one person was being coached by their glasses’ AI mid-trial, their usage is generally advised against. There are also recording restrictions in UK courts, so while glasses aren’t explicitly banned, using them to snap photos or videos would be against the rules — the same as it would be for using your phone or a regular camera.

We have seen companies like Monopoly Events ban camera glasses from its Comic-Cons after secret filming complaints, and there’s a petition to the Government to ban the sale and promotion of smart specs in the country. These petitions don’t always go anywhere, but it shows there’s at least some public unrest over smart specs, and that could lead to rule changes.

EU

The European Data Protection Board is currently drafting a report on smart glasses, with it expected to land sometime in the next few months. However, while more general EU rules are being discussed, some individual members are making their own individual decisions on the tech.

Germany’s data protection authority commissioner has warned camera glasses could be banned under existing laws prohibiting recording devices hidden in everyday objects.

Netherlands digital rights activists have expressed frustration at smart glasses' ability to record people without their knowledge, while France’s privacy regulator, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty, has highlighted the privacy risks camera glasses pose.

(Image credit: Meta)South Korea

Rounding things off, we have a different kind of ban in South Korea, with the country specifically restricting smart glasses access in exam halls after cases of students being caught trying to cheat using intelligent eyewear.

Smart devices are generally banned from exam rooms in most schools across the globe to prevent cheating, though given the importance of South Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test, their very explicit ban makes sense so as to remove any possible confusion over whether students can even bring smart specs into the room with them.

Could things change?

(Image credit: Meta)

Of course, very few bans have been brought in yet, but they could be unless things change on the hardware side.

A big concern is over privacy for non-glasses wearers caught in the gaze of someone's camera — especially if they don't know they’re being recorded. An obvious fix here would be to make smart glasses much more obvious when they're recording — perhaps brighter camera lights, a loud audible camera sound when snapping a photo, some kind of audio indicator when video is being recorded.

For users, they’ll want better control over what is and isn’t accessed by smart glasses makers when using their tech, and more certainty about which images are and aren’t shared, or which videos can or can’t be seen by contractors.

We’ll have to wait and see how the situation develops, though I’m not sure how much longer smart specs can go before we see serious regulations.

I just gave this stick vacuum 5 stars and now it's half off — get the Samsung Jet 95S for just AU$399 - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 00:50

It's been a day since I published my Samsung Jet 95S review and, as I mentioned, this cordless vacuum cleaner is full of surprises. From its unimposing size to being lighter than some of its competition, to even fully harnessing its excellent 280AW of suction, the Jet 95S is very easy to recommend even at full price.

But why would you do that when you can pick it up for 50% off? That's right: the Samsung Jet 95S, which is already good value at AU$799, is now discounted to just AU$399 at JB Hi-Fi.

That's a very budget price and excellent bang for your hard-earned buck to spend on a vacuum cleaner that I gave a full five stars to — and I've been reviewing vacuum cleaners for nearly a decade and have rarely done so. The Jet 95S is now my pick of the best vacuum cleaner in Australia.

Samsung has only slashed the price by AU$100, and no other retailer is currently matching JB Hi-Fi's half-price offer, making this the best vacuum cleaner deal I've seen in a very long time. That's more so because I can't fault this stick vac for anything — not its performance, its attachments or even its full price.View Deal

It may not have self-emptying like many a Shark vacuum cleaner or may not be looker like some of its Dyson counterparts, but what the Samsung Jet 95S has in spades is performance.

As I said in my review, it's in the same league as the Dyson Gen5detect Absolute with 280AW of suction, but it manages to outperform its competition thanks to four suction modes, with the Jet setting so darn powerful, I found 100% hair pickup from a rather dirty mid-pile carpet.

In fact, the Jet 95S aced all my tests in just its Mid suction setting, which is the second level up from Min (aka minimum, of course), and found it performed better than Dyson's Auto mode — albeit just barely.

I'm even a big fan of the Flex Tool that ships with the Jet 95S, which helped me get to awkward corners and high up on ceilings to clean behind my sofa and even an air-conditioning vent that's 90º to my ceiling. The other two accessories are stock standard, but you do get a Pet Tool+ attachment that's good at picking up small and thin strands from upholstery, bedding and all kinds of floor types.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The Slim LED floorhead has a very bright headlight that doesn't highlight dust particles like Dyson's Fluffy Optic does, but at least it lets you see under the bed or other low-lying furniture where light doesn't typically penetrate. This floorhead is only for hard floors though.

The all-round useful floorhead is the Jet Dual Brush+ that I found a little difficult to manoeuvre around the house, even on hard floors, but the Samsung vacuum isn't as heavy as some other models, so exerting a little extra energy is doable here. The clean you get from this floorhead, though, is exceptional, and I found no tangling of long hair strands during my testing.

I even love the fact that the wand is expandable, unlike Dyson.

Honestly, for a fraction of the Gen5detect's price, you're getting the same suction power and excellent cleaning performance, in a package that's easy to use and store. It's an absolute steal at just AU$399!

G’day, Alexa+: Amazon's AI-upgraded smart home assistant has finally arrived in Australia — and it's fully fluent in 'Strayan - Thursday, August 6, 2026 - 00:54
  • Amazon touts Alexa+ as its voice assistant’s “biggest leap forward”
  • Aussies can now request early access to Alexa+, but it’s also available with the purchase of a new eligible Echo or Fire TV device
  • Prime members get Alexa+ for free after early access ends in November; non-members pay AU$29.99p/m

Alexa+, the conversational AI upgrade of Amazon’s long-time voice assistant, has officially launched in Australia, over a year after rolling out in the US.

This “smarter, more conversational and more capable” voice assistant promises a more transactional experience that recognises natural language, can remember user preferences and automatically adjust your smart home tech, like turning on your air conditioning when it starts to get warm or turning on lights when it starts getting dark.

For its local debut, Amazon has added Aussie touches, so Alexa can now understand colloquialisms like ‘arvo’, ‘snags’ and ‘servo’, as well as being “tuned into Australian culture”, like not mixing up footy codes or understanding expressions like ‘fair dinkum’ or ‘passing the pub test’.

You can sign up for an early access invite now if you already own a compatible device, or get automatically signed up when you buy an eligible Echo or Fire TV device. After early access ends on November 30, 2026, Alexa+ will remain a free Prime benefit for subscribers, while non-members will have to pay AU$29.99 per month to retain access.

Most of the current Echo devices are compatible with Alexa+, with only the now-discontinued first- and second-generation models unable to support the new voice assistant. Fire TV devices, meanwhile, will have limited compatibility with Alexa+, with support available only on the following:

  • Fire TV Stick 4K Select
  • Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen)
  • Fire TV Stick 4K Plus (2nd Gen)
  • Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen)

Alexa+ isn’t the only ‘smart’ voice assistant available in Australia, with Google Home Premium (formerly Nest Aware) being its main competitor. The latter costs AU$15 per month or AU$150 per year for its Standard tier, or AU$30 or AU$300 per year for the Advanced tier, scoring Alexa+ points on pricing — provided you’re a Prime member or course.

It remains to be seen whether this would trigger a Prime membership price hike in the days to come.

Do we really need an Amazon-powered LLM in our lives?

Amazon claims that Aussies interact with Alexa “more than two billion times each year”, with 77 million questions asked and more than 600 million smart home actions in 2025 alone. While that suggests there’s a large customer base in Australia, it begs the question of whether we’re willing to bring another AI assistant into our homes and, importantly, pay extra for it.

As my colleague Graham Barlow rightly pointed out, Alexa+ may be an improvement by being more conversational and context aware, but it doesn’t really do enough to warrant the consistent use of the assistant.

Lots of Redditors have also expressed their displeasure with Alexa+, with some choosing to revert back to the old Alexa for the many ads, the style of the new voices, or just preferring not to opt into the upgrade.

Sure, being a free add-on to Amazon Prime will see plenty of early adopters, but it remains to be seen if Aussies will jump ship from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or whatever LLM they’re already using and move to Alexa+. (Incidentally, a web version is also slated to come soon.)

Then again, AI is evolving and Alexa+ seems like the next step in the voice assistant’s development, although it will need to do more than just speak fluent 'Strayan if it wants to reign supreme Down Under.

Pages