Engadget

22.03.2025 01:42 Earlier this year, with a TikTok ban looming, Perplexity AI threw its hat into the increasingly crowded ring to take over the embattled social media company. Now, the maker of the AI search engine is outlining its vision for TikTok if its bid were to win out. In a blog post, the company made a lengthy pitch for "rebuilding TikTok in America," an effort that would see the AI company rebuild the app’s signature algorithm, add Community Notes, and integrate the shortform videos into its search engine. Of the many potential buyers, it’s not clear how seriously Perplexity’s bid is being considered. On Friday, the Financial Times reported that ByteDance’s existing US investors are "exploring a deal alongside software giant Oracle" in an effort to "appease" President Donald Trump. The story also notes that ByteDance "strongly prefers" this arrangement. Still, Perplexity is making the case that it is best suited to own the platform. Perplexity is singularly positioned to rebuild the TikTok algorithm without creating a monopoly, combining world-class technical capabilities with Little Tech independence. Any acquisition by a consortium of investors could in effect keep ByteDance in control of the algorithm, while any acquisition by a competitor would likely create a monopoly in the short form video and information space. All of society benefits when content feeds are liberated from the manipulations of foreign governments and globalist monopolists. The AI company also says it would rebuild TikTok’s "black box" recommendation algorithm from scratch and would make the "For You" feed open source. Perplexity also suggests it would add "Community Notes features" as well as the citations used by its own search engine in an effort "to turn TikTok into the most neutral and trusted platform in the world." That would be a significant departure from TikTok’s current fact-checking program, which relies on international media organizations. This is the first time Perplexity has publicly discussed its vision for TikTok in detail. It’s also notable that some of its plans — like open-sourcing the "For You" feed and adding Community Notes — feel ripped straight from Elon Musk’s playbook for X. In any case, the White House will likely need to make a decision about TikTok’s future soon. Trump’s executive order that temporarily saved the app from a ban is set to expire April 5, although the president has indicated he would "probably" extend it if necessary.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/perplexity-ai-says-it-would-rebuild-tiktoks-algorithm-and-add-community-notes-features-200449390.html?src=rss

22.03.2025 01:42 New studies from OpenAI and MIT Media Lab found that, generally, the more time users spend talking to ChatGPT, the lonelier they feel. The connection was made as part of two, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed studies, one done at OpenAI analyzing "over 40 million ChatGPT interactions" and targeted user surveys, and another at MIT Media Lab following participants' ChatGPT use for four weeks. MIT's study identified several ways talking to ChatGPT — whether through text or voice — can affect a person's emotional experience, beyond the general finding that higher use led to "heightened loneliness and reduced socialization." For example, participants who already trusted the chatbot and tended to get emotionally attached in human relationships felt lonelier and more emotionally dependent on ChatGPT during the study. Those effects were less severe with ChatGPT's voice mode, though, particularly if ChatGPT spoke in a neutral tone. Discussing personal topics also tended to lead to loneliness in the short-term, and interestingly, speaking to ChatGPT about more general topics was more likely to increase emotional dependence. The big finding from OpenAI's study was that having emotional conversations with ChatGPT is still not common. "Emotionally expressive interactions were present in a large percentage of usage for only a small group of the heavy Advanced Voice Mode users we studied," OpenAI writes. That suggests that even if MIT's findings are as concerning as they are unsurprising, they're not exactly widespread outside a small group of power users. There are important limitations to MIT Media Lab and OpenAI's research, like both studies covering a short period of time and MIT not having a control group to compare to. The studies do add more evidence to something that seemed intuitively true for a while now — talking to AI has a psychological impact on the humans doing the talking. Given the intense interest in making AI a compelling conversation partner, whether its in video games or as a way to simplify the job of YouTube creators, its clear that MIT Media Lab and OpenAI are right to want to understand what'll happen when talking to AI is the norm.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/joint-studies-from-openai-and-mit-found-links-between-loneliness-and-chatgpt-use-193537421.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 SpaceX could soon have greater control over the recreational activities of South Texas residents. The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News report that a pair of state senate bills introduced earlier this month would give officials at the likely Starbase city the authority to decide when a nearby beach shuts down for weekday launch activities. Meanwhile, a third bill floated on Wednesday would take the company's control a step further, making it a criminal offense for people on the beach not to comply with SpaceX's evacuation orders. The bills are possible because of an upcoming election that will almost certainly give SpaceX officials control of the area. On May 3, voters will decide if Starbase becomes a Texas city, something Elon Musk first proposed in 2021. Given that the area near the rocket site is populated mainly by SpaceX employees , let's just say the election's outcome won't likely be a toss-up. Republican state senator Adam Hinojosa's first bill, SB 2188, would let Starbase city officials decide when Boca Chica Beach is closed for weekday rocket tests and flights. An identical bill, HB 4660, was introduced in the state house by Republican Janie Lopez. Cameron County officials, who control the closures now, would maintain control on Friday afternoons and weekends. Texas state senator Adam HinojosaCampaign for Adam Hinojosa Meanwhile, Hinojosa's second senate bill would make it a Class B misdemeanor for people on the beach not to comply with Starbase's evacuation orders. The freshman state senator said the bill would give the commercial spaceport "real teeth" to "compel people to do the right thing." The Houston Chronicle reports that the FAA's Environmental Assessment shows that SpaceX has moved much of its testing to a site that doesn't require the closure of State Highway 4. A SpaceX flight test in April 2023 closed the road for over 24 hours, while another shuttered it for nearly eight hours last June. The company can close State Highway 4 for up to 500 hours each year for standard operations and up to 300 more hours to address incidents like an exploding rocket. On the other hand, environmental groups have argued that SpaceX's activities are damaging the area. Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy and other groups sued the FAA for allegedly rushing SpaceX's permitting process without a full environmental review. And the Environmental Protection Agency fined the company for allegedly dumping pollutants into Texas wetlands adjacent to the Rio Grande River. Craig Nazor, conservation chair for the Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter, testified to the state senate on Wednesday that SB 2188 would "put beach closures directly in the hands of SpaceX." He also expressed concern that the second senate bill could put folks who are unaware of an upcoming launch into legal trouble. " could potentially make a criminal out of someone who's out there and lost track of exactly what may be going on at the launch pad," he said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/spacex-could-soon-have-more-control-over-texas-public-road-and-beach-closures-184526421.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 Twitter may be dead, but the 12-foot tall bird logo from its San Francisco headquarters will live on. The sign — one of two birds that formerly adorned Twitter’s office — has been sold at auction for $34,375. That's a bit less than $40,000 auctioneers RR House estimated it would fetch, but is nonetheless a pricey piece of social media history. The massive logo that marked the company’s headquarters on San Francisco's Market Street is undoubtedly one of the most iconic symbols associated with the social media company. The unknown buyer will also responsible for costs to move the sign from the San Francisco storage facility where it’s currently located. That alone will be no small feat. The sign is 145˝ x 105˝ and weighs in at 560 pounds, according to the listing. A YouTube video accompanying the listing shows that it took a crane and a team of several workers to remove the sign from the building. RR Auction Exactly where "Larry" will end up next isn't clear as the winning bidder's identity hasn't been disclosed, but the 12-foot tall sign is bound to make quite a statement, wherever it lands. Notably, this isn’t the first time “Larry” hit the auction block. Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022, much of the contents of Twitter’s former offices were auctioned off in 2023. Other, slightly smaller versions of the logo proved to be popular at the time, with one statue that decorated the office selling for $100,000. The building’s other large bird logo was auctioned off in that sale for an undisclosed price. Update, March 21, 2025, 1:47 PM ET: Now that the auction has closed, this story has been updated to add information about the winning bid.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-560-pound-twitter-logo-has-sold-for-34000-180326846.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 In November, Google said it would conduct a "test" in eight European countries that would omit results from EU-based news publishers for a small percentage of users. The results are in, and the survey says the news has no meaningful monetary value for the company. But the "public experiment" was hardly done for scientific curiosity. European copyright law says the company must pay publishers for using snippets from articles, and Google will likely use the data to try to kneecap news outlets' negotiating leverage. "During our negotiations to comply with the European Copyright Directive , we've seen a number of inaccurate reports that vastly overestimate the value of news content to Google," the company bluntly wrote in its blog post explaining the experiment's results. "The results have now come in: European news content in Search has no measurable impact on ad revenue for Google." Google Economics Director Paul Liu said that when the company removed news content from one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, it saw no change in ad revenue and only a 0.8 percent drop in usage. Liu concludes that "any lost usage was from queries that generated minimal or no revenue." Interior of Google's Madrid campusGoogle TechCrunch notes that Google is walking a fine line here. It's already faced antitrust fines in France over news content, and Germany is ratcheting up pressure on the company's news licensing tactics. Neither country was ultimately included in the "experiment." The company has a long history of using the potential withdrawal of visibility as a negotiating stick in similar situations , including tests in Canada, California and Australia. In the latter case, Aussie grit prevailed: After Google threatened to remove its entire search engine from the country, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, "Let me be clear. Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia." The bill was passed and enacted, and Google struck deals with Australian media companies to license content. And yes, Google search is still available Down Under.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-says-its-european-experiment-shows-news-is-worthless-to-its-ad-business-161103352.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 The Anker 321 MagGo power bank has been discounted to $20 as part of the Amazon Spring Sale. This is a record low price and represents a discount of 23 percent. A whole bunch of colorways are on sale here, including white, black, pink, green and purple. Anker products are all over our list of the best power banks and portable chargers, so this device is in good company. The 321 MagGo is, as the name suggests, a magnetic power bank that snaps onto the back of smartphones. It works with cases, so long as the case is magnetic. Inside, there’s a 5,000mAh battery that provides up to 19 hours of additional use for modern iPhones. It’s equipped with heat sensors that continuously monitor temperatures to avoid accidental damage and it can juice up a phone while it’s being charged itself. This power bank is also on the smaller side, so it easily fits into pockets, bags and purses. The only downside is that this is only for Prime members. The same goes for the Anker MagGo 3-in-1 charging station, which has been discounted to $88 from $110. However, the Anker Nano 3-in-1 portable charger is on sale for everyone. This non-magnetic charger includes a large 10,000mAh battery and is currently $35.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-anker-5k-magnetic-power-bank-is-only-20-in-the-amazon-spring-sale-152009004.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 The Amazon Spring Sale is just around the corner, but you can already save on some of our favorite tech — in addition to tech that's just been released. Apple announced new iPads and MacBooks earlier this month, and the newest, entry-level iPad has already received a discount on Amazon. You can pick up the iPad for $329 right now, or $20 off its standard price. It comes with an A16 chip and a newly upgraded 128GB of storage — double the amount in the previous base iPad. It doesn't support Apple Intelligence, but offers features such as a 12MP wide camera, 4K video and a Liquid Retina display. If you're not fussed about getting the newest model then check out Amazon's sale on Apple's 10th generation iPad. Right now, it's down to $269 from $349 — a 23 percent discount. It's screen is one-tenth of an inch smaller and it offers many of the same features, like 4K video recording and a 12MP wide camera. Plus, it still has a USB-C port rather than the old lightning port. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-deals-include-apples-new-base-ipad-for-20-off-143705989.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 20:11 Now that we know the Amazon Spring Sale is on the horizon, we're on the lookout for the best tech deals to grab from it. In typical Amazon fashion, Blink security cameras are some of the first to be discounted for the shopping event. The Blink Mini 2 is available for $20, which is half off its regular price and the best discount we've seen. You can pick up two of the wired security cameras for $38, which represents a 46 percent discount. We reckon the Blink Mini 2 is the best budget security camera around. You can adjust the webcam-style camera to a variety of angles. It's weather-resistant, so you can place it outside if you have a special power adapter. The camera picks up decent images, particularly those captured in the infrared nighttime view. It also has a built-in LED spotlight. Since Blink is an Amazon company, of course the Mini 2 ties into the Alexa ecosystem. You'll just need to have a Blink account before you can actually use it. As you might expect, you'll be able to view images captured by the Mini 2 via the Alexa app on an Echo Show, Fire Tablet or Fire TV but, curiously, not iOS or Android. To see the captures on your phone or tablet, you'll instead need to use the Blink app. You'll get some extra features — such as cloud storage and people and pet detection — if you sign up for the Blink Subscription . Elsewhere in the sale, a five-pack of the Blink Outdoor 4 cameras is half off at $200. This is our recommendation for the best security camera for Alexa users. Having five of them should be enough for many folks to keep an eye on everything that's going on around their property. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-blink-mini-2-security-camera-drops-to-only-20-for-amazons-spring-sale-171417945.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 After a season that resolved a few key mysteries but still perplexed fans and raised the personal stakes for everyone’s favorite macrodata refiners, it’s not a huge shock that Apple has renewed one of its most successful shows. Just as the second season finale hit Apple TV+, the company confirmed Severance will be returning for a third season. The company says Severance became the most-watched show on its streaming service during the second season. The sci-fi thriller took the crown from Ted Lasso, which Apple also recently renewed. Season 3 of Severance is available upon request. - Tim C. https://t.co/bNig41qs9t pic.twitter.com/cnctZIRDNF— Tim Cook March 21, 2025 All going well, the wait shouldn’t be quite as long between seasons of Severance this time around. Fans had to remain patient for three years for the second season, in large part because of filming delays due to writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023. This week, The Information reported that Apple slashed its initial content budget for Apple TV+ by 10 percent from $5 billion to help reign in costs. The company is said to be losing over $1 billion per year on Apple TV+ — purportedly making it the only Apple subscription service that isn’t turning a profit despite reaching 45 million subscribers last year. Still, the company is evidently willing to keep supporting expensive projects like Severance if they keep performing well. There’s no release window for season three of Severance as yet. In the meantime, I’ll be pretending I’m an innie so I can hopefully forget any spoilers I see until I have a chance to watch the season two finale.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apple-greenlights-severance-season-three-140954214.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 On May 9, AMC Theatres will start showing a sci-fi movie that was shot in Swedish but will look like it was made in English instead. Watch the Skies, which was released in its home country as UFO Sweden, had undergone "visual dubbing" with the help of artificial intelligence. An AI company called Flawless used its technology to digitally alter the film's images, making the actors look like they were truly speaking in English. Notably, the original actors recorded their own dialogues in English in a sound booth — Flawless AI's technology merely altered the movements of their lips in the movie. On its website, Flawless says its TrueSync AI technology "captures every nuance of an actor’s performance and generates new lip movements that perfectly map to the new language audio, providing the perfect visual dub." Variety says the tool is compliant with the rules set by SAG-AFTRA, which ended a four-month strike in 2023 after securing a deal with studios that protects members "from the threat of AI." Flawless AI's technology could lower the barrier of entry into foreign films. It could make them more appealing to audiences resistant to watching subtitled movies and could provide a better experience for audiences in countries that normally dub movies in their native language. "Showing our materials to filmmakers, especially over the past year, they realize the potential from going to a local stage to a global stage," the company's co-founder, Scott Mann, told Variety. "It’s a huge opportunity to get your work out and it’s been invigorating. They are so excited about showing their work in a wider audience, and especially in America." Watch the Skies revolves around a teenager who believes that her missing father wasn't dead but was abducted by aliens. To uncover the truth about her father's disappearance, she teams up with UFO Club to look for him. AMC Theatres has committed to showing the film in 100 locations across America. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amc-theatres-will-screen-a-swedish-movie-visually-dubbed-with-the-help-of-ai-130022232.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 There's a bidding war for the film adaptation of Split Fiction, according to the information Variety has gathered at this year's Game Developers Conference. Split Fiction is a split-screen multiplayer co-op game by Swedish indie developer Hazelight, which was also the studio behind the genre-defining game It Takes Two. The publication says Story Kitchen, the same media company that pieced together the It Takes Two film adaptation package until it was picked up by Amazon, is already looking for actors, writers and a director for the project. Variety didn't mention specific companies bidding for the game's rights, but offers are reportedly coming in from "multiple top Hollywood studios." Split Fiction was specifically designed for split-screen gaming through local or online play. You can control either one of the two main characters, Zoe and Mio, as they navigate multiple worlds and overcome various obstacles. The game's story revolves around the two authors who were invited by a company called Rader Publishing to test a new simulation technology that allows players to experience their own fictional stories as reality. Due to an accident, Mio fel into Zoe's story, which created a glitch that allowed them to travel to and from each other's science fiction stories featuring dragons, cyberpunk motorcycles and other sci-fi and fantasy elements. The game was released on March 6, 2025 and is currently available on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-split-fiction-movie-is-reportedly-in-the-works-121528148.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 For all of the money and clout Meta has, it can’t stop the triennial emergence of a whistleblower revealing how awful its leadership is. Careless People, the tell-all memoir from former staffer Sarah Wynn-Williams is the latest, dishing plenty of dirt on the house of Zuckerberg. The book has shot to the top of The New York Times’ bestseller list despite Meta’s attempts to suppress it. Engadget’s Karissa Bell summarized some of the more eye-watering details from the book, and even in highlight form, it’s wild. Like the fact Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire world king of the internet, wanted the company to arrange for him to be mobbed when he landed in Asia. Or that Sheryl Sandberg didn’t quite grasp how difficult it is to transport live organs between countries. There’s plenty of scorn for Joel Kaplan, the former George W. Bush staffer and friend of Brett Kavanaugh, who has long been seen as the figure behind Facebook’s rightward pull. Kaplan is accused of blocking attempts to address the company’s role in the Myanmar genocide. The book suggests Kaplan didn’t know Taiwan was an island, and that he reportedly harassed Wynn-Williams. What’s surprising, really, is how unsurprising many of the revelations are, from Zuckerberg’s venality to the company’s general indifference to the harms it creates. It’s not likely many of the claims here will make many people reconsider their relationship with the company and its products, either. — Dan Cooper Get this delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed Honda and Acura EVs will be able to use the Tesla Supercharger network in JuneAs if you needed another reason to hang around a Tesla location. Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can now search the web tooIt won’t be long before they’ll have an AI that’ll even watch YouTube for you. ChatGPT reportedly accused innocent man of murdering his childrenAnother of the great benefits of AI. Fujifilm’s GFX100RF is a 102MP medium format compact camera One hundred and two megapixels, in this economy? Fujifilm Fujifilm has been on a hot streak for a while, to the point it’s looking to flex its muscles with some absolutely wild specs. The company announced the GFX100RF medium format compact camera with, wait for it, a 102 megapixel sensor. It’s machined from a single block of aluminum, aping the aesthetic found on the company’s other X-series cameras. I can’t wait to see the hipsters who wanted something fancier than an X100 VI wasting this camera’s talents in the next few years. Continue Reading. Google unveils the new Pixel 9a for $499 Meet the new midrange smartphone king Sam Rutherford for Engadget Google has announced the already widely leaked Pixel 9a, its latest budget addition to the Pixel line. It ditches the Pixel’s famous camera bar in favor of a regular raised lens housing, but it has the same Tensor G4 chip as its pricier siblings. That will enable owners to harness some of the same AI smarts Google’s been selling on the flagship Pixels at a far lower price. Check out Sam Rutherford’s hands-on to see if your wallet might be tempted to crack open. Continue Reading. Tesla recalls more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over a faulty exterior panel Whoops. Tesla is recalling every Cybertruck on the road , after it found exterior panels could fall off. Filings with the NHTSA say an exterior trim panel could detach from the automobile, potentially causing an accident. Oh dear. Continue Reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-a-closer-look-at-facebooks-leadership-114522686.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 After a ton of leaks, Google officially announced the $499 Pixel 9a, which has the potential to be the new king of mid-range phones. It has dual cameras and access to Google's AI features — in many ways, it's everything the iPhone 16e should have been . In this episode, Senior Writer Sam Rutherford joins us to discuss what's great about the Pixel 9a, as well as its potential downsides compared to the Pixel 9. Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News! Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topics Google’s announces the Pixel 9a - potentially the new midrange king – 1:15 Fujifilm’s GX100RF: a 102MP medium format camera with only one F4 lens – 21:31 Karissa Bell’s roundup of the craziest stuff from Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book – 24:14 Donald Trump attempts to fire FTC’s two Democratic commissioners – 29:34 Amazon will send all Alexa recordings to the cloud, no more local processing – 32:52 Chinese EV maker BYD announces chargers that give 249 miles of range in 5 minutes – 39:10 Pebble founder introduces two new e-paper smartwatches – 46:47 Listener Mail: Trying to choose an OLED TV – 57:35 Around Engadget – 1:03:49 Working on – 1:09:56 Pop culture picks – 1:10:28 Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn LowGuest: Sam RutherfordProducer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence O'BrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-googles-pixel-9a-is-ready-to-take-on-the-iphone-16e-113020014.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 15:11 If you think about it, Severance's "innies" — the people trapped in an endless cycle of office work — should genuinely hate their "outies" — their other halves who exist everywhere else. While outies are free to live a seemingly carefree existence, unburdened by the labor, boredom and indignities of office life, innies have no escape. Every time they enter the elevator at the end of their shifts, which triggers the switch to their outie persona, innies just blink and return to the sterile hallways of nefarious biotechnology firm Lumon Industries. There are no weekends or holidays, there isn't even time to sleep. Spoilers ahead for Severance season 2. No spoilers for the finale, "Cold Harbor." Severance's first season arrived as we were all reeling from the initial onslaught of the COVID pandemic and many of us were dealing with our own work-life balance issues. It introduced the show's core concept — that Lumon pioneered the ability to completely separate work and life experiences — and it made the terms "innie" and "outie" a new cultural shorthand. But the debut season also leaned heavily on the outie perspective, sometimes to a fault. In its second season, Severance became even stronger by focusing more on the innie perspective. Do they deserve whole lives, or just the labor their outies don't want to deal with? Are they allowed to fall in love? Are they even real people? Apple These are all concepts the show previously touched on, but the innie experience became all the more tragic as season two went on. We watched as Adam Scott's Mark S. wrestled with the dueling desires to rescue Lumon's wellness counselor, Ms. Casey, who was revealed to be his outie's supposedly dead wife, and also nurture a budding romance with fellow innie Hellie R. . John Turturro's Irving B. spent the entire season nursing a broken heart, after the innie he fell in love with disappeared. And Zach Cherry's Dylan G. ended up falling in love with his outie's wife , who saw the best aspects of her floundering husband through his innie. Innies owe their lives to their outies, but lead a tortured existence that basically just makes everything easier for outies. Season two made it clear that the process of severance, which involves a brain injection that splits the innie and outie personas, essentially creates an adult child who only exists to work. Innies have no understanding of science, history or the greater world beyond what Lumon tells them. And naturally, the company's messaging to innies is purely focused on efficiency, output and the cult-like adoration of its founder, Kier Eagan. Apple While we spent less time with outies in this season, the show still had a sharper take on their side of the severed experience. There's a funny nod to the "return to office" phenomenon, where Tramell Tillman's Milchick practically had to beg the outies to come back to Lumon, following their innie revolt at the end of season one. In our world, RTO is mostly a phenomenon where executives are eager to witness their employees toiling away, rather than allowing them to potentially slack off while working at home. We also get a sense of what outies lose by giving up their work life to their innies. When Dylan G.'s outie, Dylan George, is turned down for a basic job outside of Lumon, he learns he can't count his innie's work time, since he didn't actually experience it. Severance isn't just a trap for the innies stuck in Lumon's offices, their outies will also have a tough time landing a job anywhere else. The only choice is to stay loyal to Lumon, and its dear founder Kier, until you retire. Or die. According to Dan Erickson, the creator and showrunner of Severance, this season was partially inspired by the recent Hollywood writer's strike. "We were all talking to our guilds and having conversations about workers rights and what we owe our employers and what we should reasonably expect back in return... And how much of ourselves and our lives and our energy we should be willing to give up for the sake of a job," he said in an interview on episode 252 of the Engadget Podcast. Apple While much of the second season was written before the strike, "consciously or unconsciously, I think that the tone of that, of those conversations made their way into the story," Erickson said. "And certainly I think that they'll be on people's minds as they're watching the show. Because at the end of the day... it is a show about the rights of workers and what they deserve as human beings." As I watched this season of Severance, and processed the events of its explosive finale, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Kazuo Ishiguro’s heartbreaking novel Never Let Me Go. It’s set in a strict boarding school where students are raised to serve one specific purpose, and their own lives are devalued in the process. But they still love, learn and dream. They have hopes and desires. Every innie should be so lucky.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/severance-season-two-review-innie-rights-and-humanity-made-for-a-stronger-show-100003400.html?src=rss

21.03.2025 10:31 When most people think of gaming laptops, they imagine high-end gaming machines with the latest graphics card, processor and so on. And of course, gaming laptops of that caliber are going to come with a hefty price tag. However, it is possible to get a budget gaming laptop that still lets you play the latest AAA titles, without spending thousands of unnecessary dollars. If you’re searching for the best budget gaming laptop, you’ve come to the right place. All of our recommendations come in at a palatable $1,250 or less, meaning you can still enjoy an immersive gaming experience, at a much more affordable price. They all boast speedy SSDs, dedicated graphics cards and generous screen sizes, which are must-haves when investing in a budget gaming laptop. Table of contents Best budget gaming laptops for 2025 What is a budget gaming laptop? Are cheap gaming laptops worth it? Best budget gaming laptops for 2025 What is a budget gaming laptop? To get a high-end gaming experience, you can easily spend $5,000 on a fully tricked-out notebook like the Razer Blade 18. But when it comes to the best budget gaming laptops, we're focusing on the other end of the pricing spectrum: laptops under $1,000. It used to be tough to find a gaming option with decent performance at that price point but, as PC prices have fallen, they no longer seem like unicorns. Stepping up a bit to systems between $1,000 and $2,000 puts you firmly in mid-range territory, which is beyond the scope of this guide. Still, it's worth keeping an eye out for sales that can push those higher-end models below $1,000. Be sure to check out our guide to the best gaming laptops for a general overview of what to look out for in these more expensive systems. Are cheap gaming laptops worth it? Cheap gaming laptops are definitely worth it if you’re trying to save money and are being realistic about what you can get at this price range. You can expect to find Intel and AMD's latest CPUs, as well as entry-level GPUs like NVIDIA's RTX 3050. Budget models are also typically paired with FHD screens running at a respectably high refresh rate of 120Hz or beyond — ensuring smooth frame rates in your favorite games. There are some exceptions though: Dell's G16 is notable for its 16-inch quad HD+ screen. Many cheap gaming laptops also skimp on specs like RAM and hard drive space. We'd recommend getting at least 16GB of RAM and SSD storage of at least 512GB. Modern games need a decent chunk of memory to run, and they also tend to be large, so you wouldn't be able to fit much alongside Windows 11 on a 256B SSD. You might be tempted to jump on one of those dirt-cheap gaming laptop deals from Walmart or Best Buy, but it's just not worth it if you're stuck with 8GB of RAM or a tiny SSD. As for build quality, expect to find more plastic than metal on budget gaming machines. Still, the best budget gaming laptops we're recommending should be sturdy enough to last a few years. Affordable systems will also be heavier and thicker than mid-range and higher-end models, and often don’t have the best Wi-Fi or connectivity options. Battery life is another trade-off, though even the most expensive gaming laptops can struggle with longevity.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/best-budget-gaming-laptop-130004199.html?src=rss