Earlier this week, when it seemed as though TikTok’s fate in the US would actually be decided by April 5th, everyone — from Amazon to the founder of OnlyFans — was coming out of the woodwork to buy it.As it turns out, none of them had a chance. And now, thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariff war, no one may get to buy TikTok. People familiar with the matter tell me that, despite all of the bids for the app, the White House was only seriously considering an Oracle-led consortium, which included many of ByteDance’s biggest investors who were set to roll their stakes into a new, US entity. The proposal, which would have licensed the app’s algorithm from China and shuffled some shareholder money around to make TikTok look more independent from ByteDance, was set to be announced before President Trump went nuclear on tariffs. As others have reported and I’ve independently confirmed, his tariff announcement on Wednesday torched any immediate chance of the TikTok proposal being blessed by the Chinese government. On Friday, less than an hour after Trump said he was pushing back the clock on banning TikTok by another 75 days to finish working out a deal, ByteDance …Read the full story at The Verge.

Nice economy you have there, said President Donald Trump’s administration. It would be a shame if something happened to it.The something, announced earlier this week, is a set of globally applied tariffs that make no sense on their face. No sane economist would endorse this. Through a combination of stupidity, incompetence and sheer gangsterism, the Trump administration has decided to levy a series of taxes that encourage blatant corruption, entirely fail to encourage American manufacturing growth, and leave people and companies poorer. That is, assuming that the taxes come into play at all.“This is the craziest of the crazy things we’ve seen thus far.”The central, persistent thing Trump seems to misunderstand about tariffs is that they are paid in the US by people in the US. A reasonable person might also remember that he tried them a few years ago in a trade war, to negative effect. We have, as a nation, shot ourselves in the dick. But don’t take my word for it! Here are some actual experts:“This is the craziest of the crazy things we’ve seen thus far,” says Chris Barrett, professor of economics at Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business. …Read the full story at The Verge.

Whether it’s a time-lapse camera, Python-based crowd analyzer, or full-fledged drones, modern Raspberry Pi boards pair well with projects involving camera modules. NVR setups, in particular, benefit from the small form factor and low energy consumption of these miniature boards, especially if you’re planning to put together a surveillance system for your surroundings. Once you arm your Raspberry Pi with Frigate’s terrific NVR provisions, you can even turn it into a wildlife monitoring setup.

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff returned to Amazon this week, coming back to the company just about two years after he left, Bloomberg reports. He’s now a vice president at the company, and he will be heading up the Ring, Blink, Amazon Key, and Sidewalk teams. Siminoff is replacing Liz Hamren, who had taken over following Siminoff’s initial departure. Hamren and the team “have done an awesome job driving the business, delivering strong results, and bringing a lot of delightful experiences to neighbors,” Siminoff says in an Amazon Q&A. He adds that the “AI transformation happening right now” is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”In the Q&A, Siminoff also says that he and Panos Panay, Amazon’s SVP of devices and services, have talked “a lot” about “experiences we can create with devices that are awesome on their own, but even better together. I think you’ll continue to see a lot of that from us moving forward – helping customers stay safe, connected, and informed as part of a magical connected experience.”The day after Siminoff originally left Amazon, Siminoff sold a new company, Honest Day’s Work, to Latch, which he helped rebrand to Door.com. The company announced late last year that he would be moving into an advisory role in 2025.

In our ever-interconnected modern world, our kids are getting electronic devices earlier and earlier. Whether it's a laptop, Chromebook, or iPad for their school work, charging accessories to outlast their coursework, or gaming handhelds to let them kick back and relax, screens are part of today's educational landscape, and that's not going away any time soon.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has infiltrated the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an agency that has a say over resources Musk needs or could benefit from for some of his private sector business, The Verge has learned. Three people who have been identified as DOGE staffers are listed in a public directory called “Finding People at the FCC.” Tarak Makecha, Jordan Wick, and Jacob Altik are all listed in the FCC directory, with email addresses associated with the agency. Each is listed under the office “OCH,” which in other agency documents refers to the Office of the Chairman.Makecha is a finance executive who, according to LinkedIn, has most recently worked in a drone detection software company and previously worked at Tesla. Makecha has reportedly been involved through DOGE at OPM and the State Department. Wick is a former Waymo engineer who’s reportedly been given access to systems at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Altik is a lawyer who’s reportedly been involved at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Are you a current or former US federal government worker? Reach out securely and anonymously with tips from a non-work device to Lauren Feiner via Signal at laurenfeiner.64.DOGE has recently expanded into other enforcement agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, as The Verge reported earlier on Friday. The FCC’s authority over radio, TV, broadband, and satellite intersects with Musk’s businesses, like granting certain permissions for SpaceX’s Starlink operations. Its role as a regulator and enforcer also means it stores information on SpaceX and its competitors in order to make decisions. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has previously said that Musk would recuse himself from potential conflicts. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what the DOGE staffers’ role will be at the agency or what restrictions there will be on their data access.

Mini PCs aren't a necessity or an option with nearly as much choice as a mid-tower assemble-it-yourself machine when you're out shopping for a computer upgrade. I have one each of a laptop, mini PC, and mid-tower that I use in rotation, and doing so offered a fresh perspective into why you shouldn't dismissively ignore the handful of adorable and tiny computers you can just plug in to fire up. Besides the general readiness to hit the ground running, there are several (albeit niche) use cases where I've found the smaller form factor to excel.

What's better than a fidget toy? A fidget toy you can 3D print. That way, when you inevitably break it from playing with it for the 1,000th time, you can just make a new one and get back to fidgeting. If your fingers itch for something to pick at and you have a 3D printer, then boy do I have the project for you. Someone has uploaded the plans for a ton of little fidget toys that play a brief section of famous video game tracks when you strum your finger along the top, and they seem to be an absolute breeze to print and assemble.

Remember zombie games? Back in the early to mid 2010's, zombie games were all the rage. The genre was bustling, with plenty of incredible titles, some of which are still being played to this day.

If you're looking to get the most from your monitor, going with an ultrawide is going to be a great option. Of course, the only problem is that most ultrawide monitors are pretty expensive. Luckily, this one from LG is now seeing a heavy discount that brings it down to just $550. This is the lowest price we've seen for this model, so it's a great time to pick one up.

Today is Windows' 50th birthday! Did you get something nice? If you forgot all about it, don't worry; it seems that Microsoft is in a giving mood and has instead granted us a lovely gift to celebrate. You can now snag some really nice wallpapers to celebrate the occasion, and each one comes with its own light and dark variant to suit your computer best.

The world of smart home devices is awesome but a little bit scary, given the many different competing connectivity standards. Building your own smart home hub is a great way to control multiple standards from the same box. One of the most compatible wireless connectivity standards is Zigbee,a low-power wireless protocol for networking IoT devices, although it's not that widely used anymore.