Irrational self-belief is one of the reasons villains deeply resonate across culture, says Kevin Wynter, a professor of media studies at Pomona College. “In a repressive society such as ours that champions conformity to better cultivate consumers, characters who actively reject the trappings of capitalist fantasia or who operate... Read more

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, known for challenging leading AI vendors with its innovative open-source technologies, today released a new ultra-large model: DeepSeek-V3. Available via Hugging Face under the company’s license... Read more

The Christmas period is here, and with it the Epic Games Store has stepped up its usual weekly free game offer to give you a new game every day for nothing. Christmas Day saw the award-winning Control up for grabs. Boxing Day? The same publisher, 505 Games, has another... Read more

Most of the other features and settings are accessible with the bar’s remote and onboard display, but it’s usually easier to use the SmartThings app. The basic layout lets you choose the sound mode (I generally stick to Standard), adjust the EQ, engage enhancements like Active Voice Amplifier, and... Read more

Chaos Agents, a new autobattler royale game from Magic: The Gathering designer Richard Garfield, is launching its private alpha test today. The game from the startup studio Popularium has had a lot of interest since its announcement at Gen Con 2024. More than 20,000 players have signed up for... Read more

It’s been a wild year in tech thanks to the intersection between humans and artificial intelligence. 2024 brought a parade of AI oddities, mishaps, and wacky moments that inspired odd behavior from both machines and man. From AI-generated rat genitals to search engines telling people to eat rocks, this... Read more

Raleigh, aka the “Smithsonian of the South,” is popular for its art, history and science. If you live in this North Carolina city or are planning on moving there, you’ll be pleased to know that it also has some of the fastest internet speeds in the country. That’s thanks... Read more

Every year has its own mix of digital security debacles, from the absurd to the sinister, but 2024 was particularly marked by hacking sprees in which cybercriminals and state-backed espionage groups repeatedly exploited the same weakness or type of target to fuel their frenzy. For attackers, the approach is... Read more

Our Verdict Best for: Pros Great option for side sleepers Unique, gel-like feel Excellent temperature regulation Affordable (for the brand) Cons Only comes in one firmness option Not a good option for back sleepers Unique feel can be somewhat divisive The Purple mattress lineup has improved significantly over the... Read more

“I think he realized that what big tech companies spent decades concerned about, which is essentially how to moderate or how to organize speech on this crazy scale, is that’s not a problem,” says Magalhaes. “That’s an opportunity for him.” Since the election, Musk has not faded into the... Read more