Near the beginning of his opening arguments, David Dahlquist, a lawyer for the US Department of Justice, showed a slide that he described as Google’s “vicious cycle.” It goes like this: Google pays billions of dollars to be the default search engine practically everywhere, thus it gets more search queries, thus it gets better data, thus it is able to improve its results, thus it makes more money, thus it can afford more defaults. Google doesn’t really disagree with this assessment — but in it’s telling, that’s a virtuous cycle. Another way to describe it is as the virtuous cycle that makes Google Search so powerful: Google believes it’s created a perfect system; the DOJ thinks it’s a nightmare. A judge will make the final call.Dahlquist’s remarks were the opening salvo of the remedies phase of US v. Google, a landmark antitrust case that ended with judge Amit Mehta finding last year that Google’s search engine is a monopoly. The question in the courtroom this time, to be litigated over the next two weeks, is what to do to fix it. And according to Dahlquist, the process has to start by stopping every part of the cycle from spinning.The DOJ is asking for three broad …Read the full story at The Verge.

For 22 years (till 2022), I only used air coolers. Stock Intel and AMD coolers and a cheap Cooler Master air cooler were enough to keep each of my processors (up to the Ryzen 5 1600) cool enough. When I got a new PC in 2022, I had the option to stay with air coolers or finally "upgrade" to an AIO liquid cooler. Since I had won this PC in a PC building competition, I decided to splurge a little by picking a 240mm liquid cooler from Cooler Master.

Back in the day, ESXi was all the craze in the home lab community, as it provided several enterprise-grade virtualization features without forcing users to pay a dime. However, the free version of the platform was discontinued after Broadcom took over VMware, forcing server enthusiasts to seek greener, open-source pastures for their home lab workloads.

Anker’s newest Qi2-compatible chargers might be faster, but if you’re looking for a reliable — and relatively inexpensive — charger to keep you powered on the go, Anker’s last-gen 622 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) is still a solid choice. Thankfully, it’s on sale through April 25th as part of Woot’s Anker Power Mania sale for a mere $22.99 ($25 off), which is about $3 shy of the power bank’s best price to date. Before Anker’s pricier 6,600mAh Qi2 power bank took its place, the 5,000mAh Anker 622 was our favorite MagSafe-compatible battery pack. It can deliver a respectable 7.5 watts of power to MagSafe-compatible phones, which isn’t as fast as the newer model’s 15W output but still enough to achieve about an 80 percent charge on an iPhone 16 or 16 Pro (or slightly less if you’re using a power-hungry iPhone 16 Pro Max or a beefier last-gen model) within a couple of hours.What’s more, the power bank features a foldable kickstand, allowing you to stream video, take video calls, or read recipes hands-free (it also works great if you’re a fan of Apple’s handy StandBy mode). Thanks to a USB-C port on the side that offers passthrough charging, the power bank can even charge itself and your phone simultaneously.Three more deals we’re diggingThe Nothing Ear (a) have returned to their all-time low price of $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon.  These water-resistant earbuds deliver great sound, comfort, and solid active noise cancellation, making them our top pick for earbuds under $100. Plus, they feature a low-latency gaming mode and ChatGPT integration for Nothing phone users, both of which are nice bonuses at this price.Best Buy is offering the second-gen Hatch Restore 2 sunrise lamp on clearance for $101.99 ($68 off), which is a new low price. It isn’t as customizable as the third-gen Hatch Restore, but the color-changing sleep gadget can still gradually wake you with the light of a simulated sunrise and peaceful alarms. It also comes with a library of sounds — including white noise and meditation exercises — to help you build good sleeping habits. That said, if you want more than just sunrise alarms and sleep sounds, you’ll have to pay $4.99 a month to access the full content library. Read our review.Woot is selling the second-gen Theragun Mini in refurbished condition for just $99.99 through May 10th, which is half the price of buying it new. The portable massage gun features three speed settings and three interchangeable attachments, allowing you to target specific muscles that require extra attention. The device also features USB-C charging and Bluetooth, enabling you to access personalized guided exercises through Therabody’s app.

I have been 3D printing for a while now, and throughout, I have created my files for 3D printing using a 3D modeling program, as well as occasionally downloading them from 3D printing websites. It wasn't until recently that I acquired a MetroX 3D scanner to explore a new method for generating files for existing parts, then 3D printing them. Just like any other skill, mastering 3D scanning comes with its own learning curve. It wasn’t just about holding the scanner and moving it around the part or design to create a digital file. It’s more than that. I have learned valuable lessons since acquiring the scanner, which I wish I had known before getting started, and I have shared them below.

When Intel Arc B580 came out last year, many reviewers, including our own Lead PC Hardware Editor Rich Edmonds, hailed it as an excellent value-focused graphics card. While Intel's B-series (Battlemage) GPUs are aimed at budget gamers, the company also has plans to compete with the likes of AMD and Nvidia in the premium GPU segment.

Meta is expanding how it uses AI to detect teens on Instagram — and, in some cases, will begin overriding account settings.Instagram announced it was using AI for age detection in 2024; the system looked for signals that users were under 18 years old, like if messages from friends say “happy 16th birthday,” for example (Meta also says it uses engagement data — people in the same age group often interact with content they see in similar ways). Teen accounts on Instagram are subject to more restrictive settings: by default, teen accounts are private, strangers aren’t able to send them messages, and Instagram limits what kind of content teens see. Last year, Instagram changed the settings for all teens on the platform so that safety features were automatically enabled.The company now says it will use AI to proactively look for teen accounts that have an adult birthday, and change settings for users it suspects are kids. In a blog post, Instagram says it will begin testing the feature today in the US. If it detects that a user is actually a child but the account says otherwise, Instagram will automatically place it under the more restrictive teen settings. Instagram acknowledges the possibility that the system will make errors — the company says users will have the ability to change their settings back.Meta has gradually offered more settings that it says will protect teens and kids on the platform, often in response to concerns from parents and lawmakers. Last year, the European Union launched an investigation into whether Meta was doing enough to protect the health of young users. Disturbing reporting into predators on Instagram targeting kids prompted a lawsuit by a US state attorney general. There’s also disagreement among tech companies — namely Google versus Meta, Snap, and X — over who should be responsible for keeping kids safe online. In March, Google accused Meta of trying to “offload” its responsibility onto app stores following the passage of a bill in Utah.

Sony has been giving Nintendo a run for their money regarding game prices and increases. Not to be outdone by the controversial Nintendo Switch 2 retail price, Sony has moved to make another price increase with this one aimed at their beloved PlayStation Plus subscription, which appeared to have gone into effect on Wednesday (April 16).

Kia’s most popular electric vehicle is getting a bit more expensive in the US for the 2025 model year. The automaker’s re-styled EV6, announced in November, will start at $42,900 — a $300 increase from the 2024 “Light” rear-wheel drive version, with bigger hikes on the higher-end models.The GT model is getting the biggest price hike of the bunch, going from $61,600 to $63,800, an increase of $2,200. And the GT-Line AWD is $1,300 more expensive than in 2024. Not included are the $1,475 destination fees for each model, which is an $80 increase over the previous year. Left: 2025 Kia EV6. Right: 2024 Kia EV6. The auto industry is currently scrambling to figure out what changes to make to weather the Trump administration’s unpredictable tariffs, though Kia hasn’t said whether these increases are a response to the recent policy changes. The new EV6 models (except the GT version) are now being assembled in the US at Kia’s plant in West Point, Georgia, alongside the EV9.The 2025 Kia EV6 adds new geometry to the front “Star Map” grille styling and includes daytime running light lines shaped like a scribbly triangle, replacing the original winky-faced ones. The EV6 lights really fit with the styling of the EV9 and EV3, the latter of which just won another Red Dot design award for Kia. The new EV6 also has larger battery packs: from 58- to 63 kWh for the standard, and from 77.4- to 84 kWh on the long range. Kia says the bigger one goes 319 miles with RWD models, although that’s not an official EPA estimate. Comparatively, the 2024 EV6 RWD Light Long Range has an EPA estimated range of 310 miles per charge.

If you've dipped your toes into the world of custom mechanical keyboards, you've likely heard whispers of QMK. For the uninitiated, QMK stands for Quantum Mechanical Keyboard Firmware. It is an open-source code bundle that resides in your programmable keyboard's microcontroller, acting as an intermediary between the keystrokes you make and the input of your computer registers. However, it is completely open-source and largely community-driven, meaning it's the ingredient that transforms a simple input device into a highly personalized tool, perfectly tailored to your comfort and preferences.

Sony has published a new teardown of the PlayStation 5 Pro, highlighting improvements that it made to the cooling apparatus of the machine. They include tweaks to the PS5’s liquid metal cooling design aimed to give the console “more stable” cooling.  The changes follow unproven claims that the liquid metal used in the first PS5 can leak and damage the console. Some sites even recommended against keeping the PS5 vertical after a repair shop owner and YouTuber was partially misquoted by jailbreak site Wololo.net. Wololo later followed up, saying its original story contained a “critical misunderstanding” — ultimately, it doesn’t seem like this was ever a widespread issue.Even so, Sony writes that it changed the design for the PS5 Pro, quoting Shinya Tsuchida, PS5 Pro Mechanical Design Lead:We spent quite some time conducting research on insulation when we were designing the original PS5. The basic structure remains the same in the PS5 Pro, but we made some improvements by adding fine grooves where the liquid metal is applied, so that the cooling effect is more stable. When we were doing research for the original PS5, we anticipated that semiconductors would continue to advance and become much denser, so we believed liquid metal technology would become crucial. It turns out we were right, and it was integral when designing the PS5 Pro.The rest of the blog post and its images may be familiar to you if you already saw iFixit’s teardown of Sony’s very expensive console, in which it noted that the inside of the PS5 Pro contains more thermal management than electronics.Some of that includes a larger cooling fan that the company says has redesigned fan blades, including “smaller blades in between” them. The blog also explains why it’s so hard to see the traces on the PS5 Pro’s motherboard: the board hides extra electrical layers beneath, to speed up memory access.

Uber is being accused of using a “deceptive billing and cancellation process” for its Uber One subscription service, according to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission Monday. The ridehailing company would enroll people in its subscription service and then charge them without consent, making it more difficult to eventually cancel the service, the agency alleges in its lawsuit. The FTC is asking the court to file a permanent injunction blocking Uber from continuing to enroll people in its subscription program, as well as unspecified monetary relief for victims of the alleged policy. “Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. “The Trump-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people. Today, we’re alleging that Uber not only deceived consumers about their subscriptions, but also made it unreasonably difficult for customers to cancel.”Uber used difficult-to-read text and deceptive savings promises to lure people into its subscription service.According to the FTC, Uber used difficult-to-read text and deceptive savings promises to lure people into its subscription service. When signing up for Uber, customers are “wrongly promised” savings of $25 a month, which doesn’t account for the $9.99 a month for the cost of the subscription. The company also “obscures material information about the subscription,” including “using small, greyed out text which consumers can easily miss.” Many customers told the FTC they were enrolled without consent, with one customer saying they were charged despite not even having an Uber account. After sign-up, Uber allegedly would charge customers before their billing date, and occasionally before the free trial period ended. And when customers would try to cancel, Uber made it “extremely difficult,” the FTC says. “Some users are told they have to contact customer support to cancel but are given no way to contact them,” the agency says, “others claim that Uber charged them for another billing cycle after they requested cancellation and were waiting to hear back from customer support.”Uber contends that the allegations are erroneous, and that customers are able to cancel subscriptions with little friction. The company also denies signing up and charging customers without their consent. “We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said in a statement. “Uber does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent, and cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people 20 seconds or less.”The company also provided statements from former FTC officials echoing similar sentiments. “I am disappointed that the FTC chose to bring this case without a full investigation and to base its complaint on misunderstandings of both the facts and the law,” said Tim Muris, former FTC Chair, Director of Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Director of Bureau of Competition; now senior counsel at Sidley, who represented Uber during this case’s investigation period.