Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature, that automatically screenshots nearly everything on a Copilot Plus PC, is meeting resistance from app developers. Signal kicked off a trend of blocking Recall earlier this year, with AdGuard and the Brave browser now also blocking the Windows AI feature.AdGuard calls Recall a “privacy concern” in a blog post outlining why it’s blocking Microsoft’s AI tool. “The very idea of background screen captures is unsettling,” says AdGuard. “At any given moment, the system could snap a screenshot of a private chat window, an online form where you’re entering your credit card, or simply something personal you didn’t want saved.”Brave admits it was “partly inspired by Signal’s blocking of Recall,” for its decision to also block Recall from accessing its browser. “We will disable it by default for Windows 11+ users, with a toggle to turn it back on for users who really want Recall,” says Brave.Signal first started blocking Windows 11’s Recall screenshots in May, while also highlighting that Microsoft “has launched Recall without granular settings for app developers that would enable Signal to easily protect privacy, which is a glaring omission that limits our choices.” Signal’s block involves using a DRM flag, which means it blocks any screenshot or accessibility tools from accessing the messaging app. Brave is able to offer access to screenshot and accessibility tools and still disable Recall, because Microsoft lets browser apps granularly disable Recall. “While it’s heartening that Microsoft recognizes that Web browsers are especially privacy-sensitive applications, we hope they offer the same granular ability to turn off Recall to all privacy-minded application developers,” says Brave.

Despite them being one of the most observed and monitored elements in human history, I still don't know a ton about the stars and the moon cycle. Fortunately, there are plenty of devices and apps that register your location and inform you of what lies above you, which is great when you see something interesting up there and want a quick and easy way of identifying it.

I always recommend spending a decent amount on the motherboard to ensure reliable and stable operation. The same goes for power supplies, and so I thought it would be interesting to see how well one of the cheapest ITX AM5 motherboards would perform with an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. ITX motherboards are among the most expensive form factors due to their restricted size and niche application. The B650i Night Devil from JGINYUE costs $100, and I bought one over Prime Day to see if it would be one of the best buys of 2025 or if I'd need to contact my home insurer. Thankfully, much to my wife's anticipation, it's the former.

A US district court judge has withdrawn his decision in a biopharma securities case after lawyers noted that his opinion referenced fake quotes and other erroneous case information — mistakes mirroring errors in other legal cases that have been attributed to artificial intelligence tools.In a letter sent to New Jersey Judge Julien Xavier Neals, lawyer Andrew Lichtman said that there was a “series of errors” in Neals’ decision to deny a lawsuit dismissal request from pharmaceutical company CorMedix. These citation errors include misstating the outcomes in three other cases, and “numerous instances” of made-up quotes being falsely attributed to other decisions.As reported by Bloomberg Law, a new notice published to the court docket on Wednesday says “that opinion and order were entered in error,” and that a “subsequent opinion and order will follow.” While it’s not unusual for courts to make small revisions to decisions following a ruling — such as correcting grammatical, spelling, and style errors — major modifications like removing paragraphs or redacting decisions are rare.There is no confirmation that AI was used in this case. Nevertheless, the citation errors carry the same telltale signs of AI hallucinations that have appeared in other legal filings as lawyers increasingly turn to tools like ChatGPT for help with legal research. Attorneys defending MyPillow founder Mike Lindell were fined earlier this month for using AI-generated citations, and Anthropic blamed its own Claude AI chatbot for making an “embarrassing” erroneous citation in its own legal battle with music publishers — just two of many examples showing that LLMs won’t be replacing real lawyers anytime soon.

Donkey Kong Bananzahas finally arrived, giving the Nintendo Switch 2 its first must-own game just a month after its launch. It's the first of hopefully several game of the year contenders to come from Nintendo in 2025, and while everyone has been loving Donkey Kong Bananza, myself included, there is one aspect of the game that isn't up to par with the rest of the experience. That is the camera, which ends up doing some real strange stuff when you go underground or deep into the terrain, and while the camera can be frustrating at moments, I think it's the perfect camera for Donkey Kong Bananza.

One ever-present danger in the home lab is how to gracefully shut down your home servers when there's a power cut. Adding a UPS to your setup is one way to ensure you don't lose data when power goes out, but most UPS models only have one USB connection for sending the shutdown signal, and you might have several devices plugged into it in your home lab.

What are your thoughts on Windows 11's widgets? Some people love using them, and for others, they're more of a take-them-or-leave-them sort of thing. And over the past month or so, we've seen Microsoft adding new features to the widgets panel to make it a little better.

Mini PCs are a great option if you're looking for something cheap, compact, and versatile. While they can easily be used like a traditional PC, you'll often find that they can also be fantastic additions to your home lab, the heart of your home security system, or the brains of your smart home.

One thing that Raspberry Pis are really good at is squeezing into really small devices. This makes them a potential choice if you want to build a portable device; sure, it may not be as mighty as some other options, but if you don't need something that's super powerful, a Raspberry Pi is both an affordable and easy means to get the job done.

While NotebookLM is associated with students, there are plenty of ways you can use it to learn more about and understand topics that you're interested in or that are personally important to you. When I tried NotebookLM for the first time, I mostly tested its accuracy by creating notebooks for topics I'm familiar with.

The improved AI wallpapers now let you prompt with anything you like. Google has released a new version of ChromeOS that allows you to sync desktops between devices, ideal for anyone who works across more than one Chromebook. It also significantly improves the AI wallpapers available on Chromebook Plus laptops with a completely freeform prompting field.Desk sync is designed to help you pick up where you left off when changing devices. It will sync your windows, tabs, and cookies so you can change devices without losing where you were. Google suggests it’ll be particularly useful for workers in healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing who might share a pool of devices. It’s optional, but can be enabled in the ChromeOS user settings under “Desk sync.”ChromeOS version 138 also delivers a major update to AI wallpapers, which remain exclusive to the more powerful Chromebook Plus models. The previous version, introduced in May 2024 along with Gemini, limited users to specific art styles and a narrow range of prompt formats. Now it offers a freeform text field for prompt inputs, allowing users significantly more control over generated wallpapers. If that sounds like too much freedom, the “Inspire me” button will generate wallpapers and prompts to give you a few ideas to start from.Chromebook Plus users will also get the AI-powered “Help me read” feature, which will simplify jargon-heavy or technical text. All ChromeOS devices will get the ability to use Lens to search from on-screen content or directly select text from images, along with a variety of bug fixes intended to improve accessibility.

In March, charging giant Anker announced it would spin out its 3D printer business into an "independent sub-brand," stating that the new EufyMake would "continue to provide comprehensive customer service and support" for its original 3D printers the AnkerMake M5 and M5C. Now, the 3D printing community is wondering whether that was all a euphemism for exiting the 3D printer business. eufyMake is no longer selling any 3D printers and has stopped selling some of the parts it would need to provide anything close to "comprehensive support."Anker confirms to The Verge that it has stopped selling the M5 and M5C 3D printers indefinitely. Spokes …Read the full story at The Verge.