Here are the best streaming service deals available right now It being winter and all, there’s a high probability that many of us are spending more time bingeing TV shows and movies indoors than we might otherwise. And while it’s true that most streaming services don’t cost much in comparison to most of the tech we cover, we all know monthly subscription fees have a

DOGE is trying to access the IRS’s data on millions of taxpayers The Department of Government Efficiency has requested access to the Internal Revenue Service’s taxpayer data system — potentially giving it access to highly sensitive information, including Social Security Numbers and tax returns — according to a report from CNN. DOGE has also launched an IRS-specific account on X and is soliciting “insights on …

The war on DEI is a smoke screen Violent metaphors abound for what’s happening in Washington: Elon Musk and his allies have taken a “slash-and-burn” approach to the government and a “sledgehammer” to government institutions, doing away with supposed waste and excess while leaving the fundamental structure intact. All of this is being done with the stated goal of riddi…

X is blocking links to Signal X users are currently unable to post links to Signal.me, which are used to quickly and securely send direct messages to Signal users. A variety of failure notifications are being reported when X users attempt to post Signal links on the platform, some of which identify the blocked message as containing spam, harmful content, or

The New York Times adopts AI tools in the newsroom The New York Times has reportedly approved artificial intelligence tools that newsroom staff can use for editing copy, summarizing information, coding, and writing. The publication announced in an internal email that product and editorial staff will receive AI training, according to Semafor, and introduced a new internal AI tool called Echo for …

BMW’s next-gen EVs depend on an unassuming black box called ‘Heart of Joy’ Last November, I strapped into the rear passenger seat of an all-electric, four-door sedan with BMW test driver and 24-hour racer Jens Klingmann behind the wheel. It was a cold day at BMW’s Performance Driving Center in Greer, SC, and beneath the five-point harnesses, roll cage, and heavily camouflaged body, Klingmann had an unexpected co-pilo…

YouTube TV has a deal to keep Paramount content Days after YouTube published a blog post saying it could lose Paramount content soon, it updated the post to announce a deal to keep it. The company posted on X that, as a result, channels such as CBS, CBS Sports, and Nickelodeon and add-ons like Paramount Plus, Showtime, and BET Plus will stick around after

A treasure trove of comedy history Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 71, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy long weekend to all those allowed to celebrate, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  This week, I’ve been reading about Alan Turing and OnlyFans

‘TeslaTakeover’ protests are small, but numerous Today marked a second weekend of scattered protests at Tesla showrooms, following a “TeslaTakeover” hashtag that has been trending on Twitter alternative Bluesky this week. Protestors’ messages largely focused on the divisive efforts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency since the start of Donald Trump’s P…

The Nintendo DS Drastic emulator is gone from Google Play The popular Nintendo DS emulator Drastic has disappeared from the Google Play store, reports Android Authority. It’s not clear at the moment why the app is now gone, but it seems likely that it was the developer, not Nintendo, that prompted its removal. Developer Exophase made Drastic free-to-download last year and indicated that it planned

All the buzz about Nintendo’s Alarmo clock It seems like Nintendo just revealed its mysterious device that recently crossed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — and it’s not the Switch 2. On Wednesday, Nintendo announced, of all things, the “Alarmo” alarm clock. But in classic Nintendo fashion, the clock has some playful tricks. The clock responds to your movements, which you ca…

Amazon’s revamped Alexa might launch over a month after its announcement event Amazon won’t launch the AI-powered upgrade for Alexa for at least a month after its showcase at an event set for February 26th, according to The Washington Post. The delay is reportedly at least partly because the updated assistant has issues with giving inaccurate answers to test questions. An anonymous Amazon employee told the outlet

The Vision Pro NBA app turns some games into a miniature 3D diorama The NBA has introduced a new AR feature for its Vision Pro app this week called Tabletop, which places a floating render of a basketball court in your space during “select” live games, according to an NBA help page describing the feature. On the court, digital avatars mirror the game’s actual players as they move,

Elden Ring Nightreign is already up for preorder with a $10 gift card Elden Ring Nightreign’s rocky network test might have left some fans disappointed this week, but I sincerely doubt a few breif server issues did much to diminish the growing anticipation for FromSoftware’s next soulslike for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. Thankfully, if you were still planning on picking up the Elden Ring spin-off when it launches

Technics AZ100 earbuds review: audiophiles and multitaskers unite It can be surprisingly daunting to follow up on a great pair of earbuds. The objective is to make improvements wherever possible without sacrificing anything that people loved about the previous set. That’s where Technics found itself with the $299.99 EAH-AZ100 earbuds, which it announced at CES 2025. I was rather taken with the company’s

Vision Pro apps: the good, the bad, and the ridiculous The Vision Pro is Apple’s newest computing platform, and that means we’re going to see a whole bunch of new apps. Apple pitches apps built for the Vision Pro as “spatial” experiences, and even after our initial review experience, we’ll have to see how those differ from or improve upon the virtual reality and mixed

While Waiting is a playful reminder of the joys of boredom Boredom is something of a dying concept. Our phones, filled with games and videos and social feeds, allow us to fill every moment with something, whether we’re on a long flight or in line for 30 seconds waiting for coffee. But the silly and playful While Waiting is a good reminder that that can be

Trump admin pulls hundreds of videos from CFPB’s YouTube channel Nearly 400 videos that were posted on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s YouTube page have been removed, as the Trump administration continues to pare back the agency, including its team of skilled technologists. The CFPB YouTube page, which has 15,000 subscribers and was created in 2011, has had every one of its videos removed as

Google’s Android-based earthquake detector had a false alarm Google has disabled its Android earthquake detection feature in Brazil after many smartphone users in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro received false emergency alerts on Friday morning, Android Police reports. The alerts of a nonexistent 5.5 magnitude earthquake were sent to devices around 2AM this morning, and pinpointed earthquakes in the country’…

OpenAI’s board ‘unanimously rejects’ Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company OpenAI’s board of directors has responded to Elon Musk’s bid to buy the company. In a statement on X, OpenAI chair Bret Taylor said, “OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition.” Musk and a coalition of backers offered to buy OpenAI for $97.4