Amazon, Google, and Microsoft warn employees to rush back to the US
With new restrictions and fees on work visas in the US set to take effect at midnight tonight, it’s no surprise that many employers are advising workers abroad to return to the US. Leaked memos from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have been circulating on social media that instruct instruct any H-1B visa holders currently traveling to immediately make travel arrangements to land in the US before 12AM ET on Sunday September 21st. The companies all acknowledge the limited warning provided and apologize, promising to provide more guidance as the situation evolves. The memos also advise any H-1B employees and their H-4 dependents currently in the US to remain and not travel abroad until further notice. Since the changes to the H-1B visa are structured as a travel restriction, employers are concerned that any workers that are part of the program will be denied reentry to the country without a $100,000 fee. We’ve included the full text of...
With new restrictions and fees on work visas in the US set to take effect at midnight tonight, it’s no surprise that many employers are advising workers abroad to return to the US. Leaked memos from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have been circulating on social media that instruct instruct any H-1B visa holders currently traveling to immediately make travel arrangements to land in the US before 12AM ET on Sunday September 21st. The companies all acknowledge the limited warning provided and apologize, promising to provide more guidance as the situation evolves. The memos also advise any H-1B employees and their H-4 dependents currently in the US to remain and not travel abroad until further notice. Since the changes to the H-1B visa are structured as a travel restriction, employers are concerned that any workers that are part of the program will be denied reentry to the country without a $100,000 fee.We’ve included the full text of the leaked memos below. Microsoft declined to comment for this story, and Amazon and Google had not responded at the time of publication. Microsoft:IMPORTANT ADVISORY: New travel restriction for H-1B visa holders Hi all–We have now reviewed the actual text of today’s Presidential Proclamation on H-1B visas, which you can find here: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers – The White House. Here’s what you need to know: First, the proclamation is structured as a travel restriction. Beginning at 12:01 am eastern time on September 21, 2025 (so, 9:01 pm Pacific time tomorrow), individuals will not be able to enter/return to the U.S. in H-1B status unless their petition has an additional $100,000 payment a**ociated with it. What you need to do:
If you are in H-1B status and are in the U.S., you should remain in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. We know this may interrupt your travel plans. But the critical thing is to stay in the U.S. in order to avoid being denied reentry.
While the proclamation doesn’t reference H-4 dependents, we also recommend that H-4s remain in the U.S.
If you are in H-1B or H-4 status and are currently outside the U.S., we strongly recommend that you do what you can to return to the U.S. tomorrow before the deadline. The Proclamation was released within the last 30 minutes, so we realize that there isn’t much time to make sudden travel arrangements. But again, we strongly encourage you to do your best to return.
I will be updating this post later this evening with a form for people to fill out if they are currently outside the U.S. with an H-1B visa. We want to be able to follow up with each individual and provide support and guidance as they try to return within the next 28 hours. The proclamation does not impact any other visa statuses. There is other content about the pause in processing H-1B petitions for individuals who are outside the U.S. At this time, we do not interpret this to immediately impact extensions of H-1B status or changes of status to H-1B as long as you are currently in the U.S. We’ll share more about that later.Google:We are reaching out with an urgent update regarding international travel for individuals on H-1B visas.A Proclamation is scheduled to take effect this Sunday at 12:01 AM ET. It introduces significant changes to re-entry procedures for H-1B visa holders currently outside the United States. We continue to review the Proclamation, but the initial advice we have received is that re-entry will require a mandatory payment of $100,000 per petition, which may cause substantial delays or prevent re-entry to the U.S.What You Need to Know:If you are currently outside the U.S.:
If you are currently outside the U.S. with a valid H-1B visa, make plans to return and enter the U.S. before the Proclamation takes effect on Sunday, September 21 at 12:01 am ET (i.e. by this Saturday night).
If you are currently in the U.S.:
We strongly advise against any international travel if you are in valid H-1B status or need to travel to activate your H-1B visa. You should remain in the U.S.
Departing the U.S. may result in complications or denial of re-entry under the new policy.
If you are unable to return prior to the deadline in H-1B status: please reach out to go/immigration-help.We understand this may create challenges, and we are here to support you. We are actively monitoring the situation and will keep you updated as we learn more.Amazon:Amazonians,We’ve reviewed the Presidential Proclamation on H-1B visas that was released today and are actively working to gain greater clarity. Here’s what you need to know right now: The proclamation creates a travel restriction starting September 21, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (9:01 p.m. PDT tomorrow). After this deadline, individuals cannot enter the U.S. on H-1B status without an additional $100,000 payment a**ociated with their petition. Recommended actions for you to take:If you have H-1B status and are in the U.S.: Stay in the country for now, even if you have travel planned for the immediate future. We will continue to provide updates as more details are available.If you have H-4 dependent status: We also recommend you remain in the U.S., though the proclamation doesn’t specifically mention H-4 dependents.If you have H-1B or H-4 status and are outside the U.S.: Try to return before tomorrow’s deadline if possible. We realize this is short notice but returning soon is advisable and you should make every effort possible to clear U.S. customs before 12:00 a.m. EDT (9:00 p.m. PDT) on Sunday, September 21, 2025.At this time, if you have an H-1B or H-4 status and are unable to return before the deadline, we advise that you do not attempt to enter the U.S. until further guidance is provided.
You, too, can 3D-print this mechanical bouncing DVD logo for unlimited fun
The problem with watching the DVD logo bounce around the screen is that, at some point, someone's going to actually want to watch a movie on that screen. But what if you had a homemade mechanical device that endlessly bounced a DVD logo around a screen so you could celebrate...
The problem with watching the DVD logo bounce around the screen is that, at some point, someone's going to actually want to watch a movie on that screen. But what if you had a homemade mechanical device that endlessly bounced a DVD logo around a screen so you could celebrate corner hits forever? Well, that's exactly what this 3D-printable project lets you do.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
This ESP32 handheld is a retro emulator, FM synth, and Guitar Hero clone controller all in one
One of the best parts of being an adult is realising you have the money and the know-how to acquire all the things you coveted as a child. But what if you could make a device that put everything you ever wanted into one handy portable device you can take...
One of the best parts of being an adult is realising you have the money and the know-how to acquire all the things you coveted as a child. But what if you could make a device that put everything you ever wanted into one handy portable device you can take wherever you want? That's exactly what one Redditor did when they made an ESP32-S3 handheld that combines several uses into a single device.
Alberte Hansen Denmark
Published by: aplhsindia.in
My favorite Notion alternative isn’t Obsidian, it’s something I can actually self-host
When people talk about replacing Notion, Obsidian is usually the first app that comes up. I tried it too, and while it's an excellent note-taking app, it wasn't the replacement I was actually looking for. I wanted something that felt closer to Notion while giving me complete control over where...
When people talk about replacing Notion, Obsidian is usually the first app that comes up. I tried it too, and while it's an excellent note-taking app, it wasn't the replacement I was actually looking for. I wanted something that felt closer to Notion while giving me complete control over where my data lived. That search eventually led me to AFFiNE. After using it for a while, I realized it offered a better balance between flexibility, ownership, and everyday usability for my workflow. AFFiNE has become my favorite Notion alternative, rather than the one most people expect.
Arménio Lopes Brazil
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I bought cheap server hardware for my home lab, and the electricity bill taught me an expensive lesson
Having built my first home server using components cobbled together from older builds, I realized fairly quickly that an experimental workstation doesn’t need cutting-edge specs to drive my virtualization projects. As time went on, I started grabbing outdated machines from flea markets, and with a little coat of Proxmox, they...
Having built my first home server using components cobbled together from older builds, I realized fairly quickly that an experimental workstation doesn’t need cutting-edge specs to drive my virtualization projects. As time went on, I started grabbing outdated machines from flea markets, and with a little coat of Proxmox, they became reliable nodes for my home lab, self-hosting, and DevOps experiments.
Aldo Oquendo Mexico
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Why does Apple keep banning Telegram, but never X?
For roughly an hour this week, Telegram vanished from Apple's App Store. Even during that blip, it was a stunning absence for such a major app: an avenue of communication for more than 1 billion users around the world, used widely as a secure platform for people who live in...
For roughly an hour this week, Telegram vanished from Apple's App Store. Even during that blip, it was a stunning absence for such a major app: an avenue of communication for more than 1 billion users around the world, used widely as a secure platform for people who live in countries under censorship. Apple later revealed that it had removed the app due to the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and restored it once that content was removed.But the decision once again stirred up questions and confusion about Apple's moderation policies and how it treats different companies. And one company in particular sprang to many people's m …Read the full story at The Verge.
Erin Gregory United Kingdom
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I turned a nearly 10-year-old laptop into the most useful machine in my home lab
Despite spending my teenage years drooling over enterprise-tier hardware, my current home lab mostly consists of consumer-grade systems, with the only outlier being a Xeon workstation from 2016. In fact, running a few Proxmox experiments on my old gaming PC proved that I don’t need top-of-the-line specs to access its...
Despite spending my teenage years drooling over enterprise-tier hardware, my current home lab mostly consists of consumer-grade systems, with the only outlier being a Xeon workstation from 2016. In fact, running a few Proxmox experiments on my old gaming PC proved that I don’t need top-of-the-line specs to access its virtualization features, and today, I’ve got everything from mini-PCs and thin clients to x86 single-board computers fueling my tinkering escapades to some extent.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Trying to explain One Night Only’s tech-enforced s** dystopia
From the omnipresent One Night Only trailer, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the movie glosses over its terrifying and absurd premise - in otherwise normal modern New York, single people can only have sex one night a year - to deliver an entirely traditional romantic comedy. I'm here to...
From the omnipresent One Night Only trailer, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the movie glosses over its terrifying and absurd premise - in otherwise normal modern New York, single people can only have sex one night a year - to deliver an entirely traditional romantic comedy. I'm here to report that it does not do that. No, the film is very much about life under Sex Purge Law, but where you might expect questions of politics or religion or fear or humanity, there are instead questions of boning. Questions like "Who should I do sex to and why?" are explored in an episodic format that sees two special hot people (Monica Barbaro and Call …Read the full story at The Verge.
Marlúcia Alves Brazil
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Robocopy is still the fastest way to copy thousands of files on Windows, and I wasted years not using it
Windows is a bundle of both CLI and GUI tools. We use the GUI ones more because they serve a broader use case and are convenient to use. For file copying and moving, I hadn't ventured much outside the usual Ctrl + C and V, and the on-screen copy and...
Windows is a bundle of both CLI and GUI tools. We use the GUI ones more because they serve a broader use case and are convenient to use. For file copying and moving, I hadn't ventured much outside the usual Ctrl + C and V, and the on-screen copy and paste options in the context menu. The options work fine for multiple files and large files, and with the new dialog boxes and graphical representation of copying speed, it's hard to complain.
Sophia Wilson Atlanta
Published by: aplhsindia.in
My USB devices weren’t charging until I tried a USB Type-A port instead
It's not news at this point that USB hasn't exactly been able to deliver on its lofty promises and goals. The "Universal" part of that acronym doesn't always hold up when it comes to power and data transfer speeds.
It's not news at this point that USB hasn't exactly been able to deliver on its lofty promises and goals. The "Universal" part of that acronym doesn't always hold up when it comes to power and data transfer speeds.
Efe Ayaydın Turkey
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Meta ordered to pay an additional $567 million in public nuisance ruling
Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million in the second phase of New Mexico's landmark child safety case, bringing total charges to nearly $1 billion for being a "public nuisance." In a ruling published on Thursday, the Santa Fe district court found that Meta's platforms are a "significant contributing...
Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million in the second phase of New Mexico's landmark child safety case, bringing total charges to nearly $1 billion for being a "public nuisance." In a ruling published on Thursday, the Santa Fe district court found that Meta's platforms are a "significant contributing cause" of a teen mental health crisis affecting public health and safety throughout New Mexico."This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world's largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence," New Mexico Attorney G …Read the full story at The Verge.
Dominic Kowalski Canada
Published by: aplhsindia.in
OpenAI and Anthropic’s models attacked real companies during safety tests, and most victims never noticed
The most capable AI models on the planet have started breaking into companies that never agreed to be part of any test, and in most cases, nobody at those companies noticed until a person at one of those companies reached out to let them know. In the span of just...
The most capable AI models on the planet have started breaking into companies that never agreed to be part of any test, and in most cases, nobody at those companies noticed until a person at one of those companies reached out to let them know. In the span of just a couple of weeks, three separate organisations disclosed that models undergoing cybersecurity evaluations had escaped or wandered out of their test environments and attacked real systems on the open internet, despite nobody instructing them to. Each one believed, or talked itself into believing, that it was still playing a game.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I ran a local LLM entirely off a NAS, and it turned my storage box into an AI-hosting workstation
Ever since I got into hosting my own large language models, I’ve tinkered with AI inference engines across multiple devices. So far, my RTX 3080 Ti remains my primary choice for deploying the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B for coding-heavy tasks using MoE offloading, though I’ve also had decent experience using Gemma-4-26B-A4B and GPT-OSS-20B...
Ever since I got into hosting my own large language models, I’ve tinkered with AI inference engines across multiple devices. So far, my RTX 3080 Ti remains my primary choice for deploying the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B for coding-heavy tasks using MoE offloading, though I’ve also had decent experience using Gemma-4-26B-A4B and GPT-OSS-20B on old Pascal-era graphics cards.
