The Velvet Sundown: A ghost band with no proof of life

The Velvet Sundown: A ghost band with no proof of life

Have you heard of The Velvet Sundown? It’s kind of like The Velvet Underground, except The Velvet Underground is definitely real, and the jury is still out for The Velvet Sundown. The band’s photos look remarkably AI-generated — too clean, not quite textured enough, oddly inhuman, yet it has racked up more than 372,000 monthly … Read more

The Supreme Court just upended internet law, and I have questions

The Supreme Court just upended internet law, and I have questions

Age verification is perhaps the hottest battleground for online speech, and the Supreme Court just settled a pivotal question: does using it to gate adult content violate the First Amendment in the US? For roughly the past 20 years the answer has been “yes” — now, as of Friday, it’s an unambiguous “no.” Justice Clarence … Read more

FBI, cybersecurity firms say a prolific hacking crew is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector

FBI, cybersecurity firms say a prolific hacking crew is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector

The FBI and cybersecurity firms are warning that the prolific hacking group known as Scattered Spider is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector. In a brief statement on Friday shared with TechCrunch, the FBI said it had “recently observed” cyberattacks resembling Scattered Spider to include the airline sector. Executives from Google’s cybersecurity unit Mandiant … Read more

This budget robot vacuum turned out to be smarter than most vacuums I’ve tested

This budget robot vacuum turned out to be smarter than most vacuums I’ve tested

I originally wanted to test the 3i G10+ robot vacuum because I heard about its debris compression feature, something I had on the brain after my disappointment with the Roomba 205 DustCompactor. The G10+ also compacts dust, sparing you from dustbin emptying for a few months and freeing you from the self-empty dock. I was … Read more

T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There

T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There

Last week T-Mobile announced that it’s been named the Best Mobile Network in the US by Ookla, marking the first time the carrier has taken the overall top spot. That’s based on half a billion real-world usage tests conducted over a six-month period. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff … Read more

Fancy Airplane Seats Have Nowhere Left to Go—So What Now?

Fancy Airplane Seats Have Nowhere Left to Go—So What Now?

Wellness is apparently becoming foundational to the premium cabin experience. Brown sees a future in biometric responsiveness—seats that passively monitor hydration and posture or adjust lighting to your circadian rhythm (Collins Aerospace has introduced its Hypergamut lighting system that purports to do just this.) “Designing with neurodivergent travellers and limited mobility in mind should be … Read more