Technology

The 2023 Genesis GV70 has one of those used-car prices that makes you stop and look twice. A luxury SUV that once cost well over $60,000 can now be found in the $30,000s, putting it in the same conversation as a new, well-equipped Toyota.

If your child loves playing the same song over and over again (like mine), you no longer have to keep an old phone handy or splash out for a dedicated device like a Toniebox or Yoto Player. Do-it-yourself enthusiast Dr-Harvey has built the BailaBox, an ESP32-based open-source music player for kids that brings back fond memories of CDs and vinyl.

Back-to-school season is here, and getting ready for another semester can get expensive fast. Tuition and books are only part of the equation. You may also need a laptop, accessories, school supplies, and software for writing papers, creating projects, designing presentations, or completing coursework. All those costs add up quickly, so saving money wherever you can matters.

If your Netflix home page is doing its job, you've likely already seen that Kevin Hart's 72 Hours is at No. 1 on the U.S. Top 10 charts at the moment, and that a Liam Neeson action movie (In the Land of Saints & Sinners) from 2024 is up there, too. While both are solid picks for a fun movie night this week, there are, of course, loads more options.

One of the biggest box office hits of 2026 finally hits streaming services this week. Let's just say audiences still love listening to the King of Pop's treasure trove of hits, which is why it's our top recommendation this week. Right behind the music biopic is an emotional teen drama about a young girl who must grapple with a devastating revelation about her mother.

There’s a new robotaxi in town — Amazon's Zoox.

Paid rides on Zoox became available for the first time ever, with service launching in Las Vegas on Monday (Aug. 10). The Sin City service follows Zoox's recent availability as a free option for select San Francisco riders. 

While Alphabet's autonomous Waymo cars are also available in Vegas, Zoox has some distinct differences, most notably its carriage-style seating made possible by the absence of a steering wheel and gas pedal. Zoox vehicles also lack a formal front or rear, allowing them to drive in either direction seamlessly. Riders adjust temperature and music choices on screens in the cabin.

On July 30, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Zoox could temporarily offer paid service. 

"This temporary exemption will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, subject to an enhanced, adaptable oversight structure that can evolve as Zoox’s technology advances," according to the agency.

Zoox prices will be competitive with other rideshare services, according to the Los Angeles Times, with possible surcharges for trips to airports or special events. 

The Zoox app shows rides currently available in a wide swath of the Las Vegas Valley, with vehicles operating from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. On-demand service in Austin, Miami, and San Francisco will be up next. 

Waymo recently announced its van-style Ojai service is available for free to select riders in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. While the Ojai has a steering wheel and pedals, it also features accessibility options such as elevator-style doors, low step entry and exit, and three large LED screens for customizing music and temperature. 

SEE ALSO: Tesla wants to be the first company to offer wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicles

Mini PCs are often touted as the go-to device for a first-time homelabber. They sip power compared to a desktop while offering plenty of performance for self-hosted apps. However, many mini PCs are surprisingly expensive, especially for someone just dipping their toes into the hobby.

It may be one of the most commonly requested types of task, but it’s also one of the more awkward ones. Monitoring a folder to watch for file changes has plenty of practical applications, from image processing to disk management and more complex API programming.

Most Linux distros are intentionally minimal to avoid bloat, offering a fresh and clean environment. While this is a major perk, knowing what to install first can be tricky for newcomers. So, to help kickstart your journey, here are five essential apps that belong on every new Linux PC.

Last weekend marked the release of The Last House, a sci-fi thriller and one of the service's new movies this August. If you want to continue in the suspenseful genre, watch these three thrillers now available to stream in the U.S.

I ignored one of the oldest Pixel features on my phone for over a year, assuming it was just another background battery-draining feature with no real benefit. Then, I finally decided to enable Now Playing, and as it turns out, it's surprisingly a lot more useful than I expected.

Supergirl is flying into theaters, and DC fans have plenty of reason to rejoice. The spinoff from 2025's Superman follows Kara (Milly Alcock), Clark Kent's cousin from Krypton, as she pub-crawls across the cosmos.

Her plans for devil-may-care merriment are disrupted, however, when she crosses paths with an orphaned girl named Ruthye (Eve Ridley) on a quest for vengeance. Whether Supergirl likes it or not, she can't help but be the hero — and the role model — Ruthye needs. And along the way, she'll run into fiends and foes, including the outrageous bounty hunter Lobo (Jason Momoa). But above all, she offers a lesson that seems to fly in the face of her chipper cousin: Don't be nice. Be kind.

When Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down in virtual interviews with Alcock, Momoa, and Supergirl screenwriter Ana Nogueira, they dug into what exactly that means. What's so bad about being nice? And what distinguishes being kind and being nice? And where does Lobo fit into this? You better believe Momoa and company had thoughts.

Supergirl opens in theaters on June 26.

New Orleans, home to more than 300,000 residents and an emergency system that handles thousands of calls each day, is turning to AI for help.

The city recently confirmed that emergency services, overseen by the Orleans Parish Communication District, are deploying an AI triage tool to screen and sort incoming calls to assist human operators. City representatives explained the technology is intended to reduce the number of repetitive calls and prevent lines from bottlenecking.

Basically, if a resident calls in an incident that's already been reported, like a car crash, the AI dispatcher is supposed to handle it.

SEE ALSO: AI companies keep destroying old books. Here's why.

The tool, referred to as AI Emergency Call Triage, was developed by AI emergency services company Carbyne. It's still undergoing real-world testing by operators, according to reporting by the Shreveport Times, but has been involved in triaging traffic-related emergency calls since at least 2023. The city also introduced an AI tool for its 311 non-emergency services in April.

New Orleans is one of several cities introducing AI into emergency and non-emergency call operations, and Carbyne is already working with public safety agencies across the country.

In 2024, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a fact sheet exploring the implementation of AI into emergency service operations, including testimony from early adopters like the Orleans Parish Communication District. The agency determined AI could assist in "automating initial detection and triage, streamlining call flow," and reducing call load for human operators. The NTIA's fact sheet argued AI would be most efficient when deployed for translation, triage, automatic callback systems, and geofencing.

SEE ALSO: Real-life 'Minority Report': AI hopes to stop crime before it starts

Carbyne has multiple partnerships with transportation and law enforcement authorities around the country, including a recent partnership with Washington, D.C. city services to modernize public safety systems like 911 call handling.

In June, reporting from the Seattle Times revealed that the Seattle Fire Department had been deploying an AI-powered triage tool similar to Carbyne's product for nearly two years. The tool in question, developed by Denmark-based company Corti, monitored live medical calls and advised operators on where and when to dispatch immediate services. Corti's AI was also deployed by Boston Emergency Medical Services, according to the company.

Critics of such generative AI products have repeatedly raised concerns about caller data privacy, the potential for AI model bias when interacting with diverse populations of callers, and the limitations of AI-generated voice tools in general. Many have taken issue with the lack of transparency by city services integrating AI into public-facing call lines without explicit notice.

YouTube built one of the creator economy's biggest payment systems, but now it is raising the bar for who gets to share in it.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2027, new creators will need 8,000 qualified watch hours over the previous year or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days to earn advertising and YouTube Premium revenue, the company announced Aug. 10.

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Both figures are double YouTube's current requirements of 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views. The announcement did not mention a change to the existing requirement that creators have at least 1,000 subscribers.

The new rules will also affect creators who are already part of the YouTube Partner Program. To earn ad and subscription revenue from Shorts each month, they will need to maintain 10 million qualified views during a rolling 90-day period.

Channels that fall below the threshold will remain in the program and can continue making money from long-form videos. Shorts revenue sharing will resume automatically if their views climb back above it.

YouTube said creators who already earn "significant revenue" from Shorts are unlikely to be affected, but did not disclose how many channels currently fall short of the requirement.

The updates mark the first significant overhaul of the Partner Program since 2018. More than 3 million creators now participate in the program, which distributes revenue from advertising and subscriptions and provides access to fan contributions and shopping tools.

YouTube’s business has grown considerably since its last overhaul, particularly around short-form video. The platform now records more than 200 billion Shorts views each day, nearly three times the 70 billion daily views it reported in 2024. Viewers also reportedly watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on televisions daily.

As it places tighter requirements on Shorts revenue, YouTube is promising other ways for smaller channels to earn money. The company said it plans to introduce bonuses tied to YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand partnerships, and additional payments for creators who start or grow trends.

Details about the value of those incentives, their eligibility rules, and when they will become available have not been announced.

The lower level of the Partner Program will remain unchanged. Creators can still qualify for fan-funding and shopping tools with 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads within 90 days, and either 3,000 qualified watch hours or 3 million Shorts views. That tier does not include advertising or Premium revenue.

According to YouTube's eligibility guidelines, qualified watch hours come from public long-form videos. Qualified Shorts views are engaged views from public videos shown in the Shorts feed. Activity from private, unlisted, or deleted videos does not count toward either requirement.

Premium Lite will create another subscription revenue pool

YouTube is also expanding Premium Lite to every country where the full YouTube Premium subscription is available. The service offers uninterrupted, offline, and background viewing of most content.

Under the updated structure, YouTube will place 60 percent of net Premium Lite subscription revenue into a dedicated pool for creators. The equivalent pool for full Premium subscriptions receives 30 percent.

The money is distributed based on what subscribers watch. Creators will continue to receive 55 percent of the revenue allocated to their long-form videos and 45 percent of the revenue allocated to Shorts.

YouTube said partners earn more on average when a viewer subscribes to Premium than when the same person watches ads. It expects the Premium Lite expansion and other updates to enable it to pay creators more in 2027 than in 2026.

The company did not disclose its total 2026 payout or estimate how many channels could see their Shorts revenue pause under the new rules.

When the changes arrive next year, creators will find out firsthand whether YouTube’s promise of more money still leaves room for smaller channels to earn it. Only time will tell.

House of the Dragon closed out its third season with the Battle of Tumbleton, a massive set piece that combined a military siege with some serious dragon firepower.

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3: How does the Battle of Tumbleton compare to the book?

The first of these dragons is Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) Caraxes, who busts through Tumbleton's gate. The second of these dragons is Silverwing, ridden by traitorous dragonseed Ulf the White (Tom Bennett). Once an ally of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), Ulf defected to Team Green when Ormund Hightower (James Norton) offered him Driftmark. (Daeron Targaryen's (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) small dragon Tessarion also makes a brief appearance, though he remains confined to his stable.)

In the battle's aftermath, as Caraxes chases Silverwing over Tumbleton, another dragon flies into view. Given its size, viewers were quick to believe it was Vhagar, who has been missing since she dropped Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) off for his vision quest at Harrenhal.

Was Vhagar at the Battle of Tumbleton?

However, that dragon is not Vhagar. It's actually Vermithor, aka "the Bronze Fury," Hugh Hammer's (Kieran Bew) dragon.

In George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Hugh also betrays Rhaenyra at the Battle of Tumbleton. In the show, he shows up for the fight in a different way, charging through the Tumbleton streets in search of his estranged wife Kat (Ellora Torchia). That leaves Vermithor up to his own devices.

Vermithor and Silverwing are actually a bonded pair of dragons. So when Vermithor pops up in that dragon-heavy shot, he's likely not coming to Caraxes's aid in taking down Silverwing and her turncoat rider. Instead, he's probably coming to his beloved Silverwing's defense.

House of the Dragon cuts away from that sequence before we can see yet another dragon dogfight. But unless Season 4 picks up seconds after the end of Season 3, it's likely all three dragons make it out of this situation alive. However, given Hugh's grief over Kat's death and Silverwing and Vermithor's bond, we may see yet another dragonrider switch sides in the coming conflict.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.

Since Elon Musk's takeover of the former Twitter, now known as X, there have been plenty of criticism leveled against the platform and the changes Musk instituted. 

Regardless of one's political background or general feelings on Musk, one of the main unanimous complaints has been the overall diminishing quality of content of the social media site due in part to the Revenue Sharing program.

That's now coming to an end. X has announced its going to sunset its current Revenue Sharing program for creators and roll out a new monetization program known as Original Content Rewards.

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According to X, the Original Content Rewards program will seek to "reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X."

"The best content on X doesn't stop at resharing what already exists — it adds something new," X said in its announcements about the new monetization program. The statement hints at an ongoing issue that was devaluing content on the platform. Monetized users were simply sharing screenshots of other users' content, re-uploading other users' videos, and generally attempting to make as much money off of content they didn't create.

Other platforms' monetization programs, such as YouTube's, have long rejected or demonetized accounts that attempted to spam stolen content simply to garner views to profit off of. X seems like it will finally address this issue on its platform.

The current Revenue Sharing program on X will run through September 7, with final payouts going out around September 11. 

How X's new Original Content Rewards program will work

According to X, Original Content Rewards will kick off on September 8.

Some qualifications for the new monetization program on X are similar to the previous Revenue Sharing program. For example, users will still need to be a paying X subscriber to X Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business in order to qualify for Original Content Rewards.

However, there are some new requirements as well. Creators will now need to have a minimum of 500 verified followers or followers who also pay for X Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business. In addition, creators will need to have at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users over the last 90 days. According to X, impressions on replies are not included in this requirement.

Creators on X can check if they meet these requirements by clicking Premium on the sidebar menu of their account, followed by Creator Studio, and Original Content Rewards.

The new Original Content Rewards program will attempt to ensure that only original content is monetizable. Content must be completely original or significantly transformed in order to qualify. Copy and pasted content or re-uploaded videos that don't belong to the uploader are not eligible for monetization. 

In addition, original content payouts will be determined by "qualified impressions." According to X, a qualified impression is a unique impression from "subscribers to X Premium Basic, Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50% of the post is visible."

X says that it will continuously check on the eligibility of users and posting disinformation, utilizing bots for views, and purposefully soliciting engagement could disqualify users from the program even if they were previously accepted.

X accounts can be temporarily suspended or even permanently removed from the Original Contend Rewards program. There is an appeals process for users who believed they were wrongly suspended or terminated from the monetization program.

Some users who commonly break these rules under the current monetization program are frequently shared by X owner Elon Musk, himself so it will be interesting to see if the new Original Content Rewards program changes how monetized accounts post on X or if the rules are even fairly enforced across the platform. 

Save 41%: As of Aug. 10, the Lego Animal Crossing Blathers's Museum set is available for $47.17, down $32.82 from its list price of $79.99. This is the absolute lowest price the set has ever hit.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Animal Crossing Blathers's Museum $47.17 at Amazon
$79.99 Save $32.82   Get Deal

It's been over six years since the release of the last Animal Crossing title, so chances are your island's museum is well and fully complete.

That doesn't mean you have to wait for a new game to get the good times going again. That's because the Lego Animal Crossing Blathers's Museum exists, and as of Aug. 10, the set is on sale $47.17, marking a first-time drop to its lowest price ever. At full price, the 543-piece set costs $79.99, meaning this deal amounts to a 41% discount.

The suggested age on this set is seven years and older, so it suits kids and adults alike. Along with the facade of the museum, the set features Blathers, Lily, a triceratops, plus two small exhibits and an homage to the Roost. While it's not exactly a true-to-game design, the smaller build means you won't have to make space for a replica in your home. Plus, this deal brings it down to a price point that makes a lot more sense for the scope of the set.

One of the downsides of being an incessant tinkerer is that I regularly break things. Messing with my homelab or smart home can often cause things in my home to stop working. When the internet stops working, my family immediately blames me, so I set up an internet status page so they could see that it isn't always my fault.

SAVE $1,090: The Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $1,709, down from the standard price of $2,799. That's a 39% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus $1,709 at Amazon
$2,799 Save $1,090   Get Deal

We're well into back-to-school season now and we're counting down the final few weeks of summer. If you live in an area that experiences fall storms, it might be time to start thinking about prep. Some of us are fine with a small portable power bank to keep phones charged up but other homes are looking for more. If you want to still use larger items like kitchen appliances while the power is out, check out this deal.

As of Aug. 10, the Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $1,709, down from the standard price of $2,799. That's a 39% discount that saves over $1,000.

With a major 3,584Wh capacity, the Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus is perfect for home backup. It has four AC ports for appliances like the coffee maker, kettle, blender, and lamps. Dual USB-A and USB-C ports will help keep smaller gadgets charged up like phones, tablets, and earbuds. For larger appliances or RV adventures, the 30amp port will help out.

SEE ALSO: The DJI Power 1000 V2 is $300 off at Amazon and ready to power up your next adventures

Of course, the 3,584Wh is pretty heavy, so Jackery equipped this model with durable wheels and a telescoping handle. Jackery mentions this model will be able to keep a 100W refrigerator cooling for at least two days or it'll run the washing machine five times.

Instead of sitting in the dark during the next storm outage, rely on the Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus. It's on sale for a limited time only for a major 39% off.

For most of my computing life, Debian and Ubuntu have been my go-to Linux distros. That will likely stay the same, even as Fedora gains traction, likely because I'm not ready to uproot my life into a new distro. If I did have to start over, I'd look closely at Fedora, and here are the reasons why.