The PipeWire project released PipeWire 1.4.3 today as yet another minor update to the latest PipeWire 1.4 series for this popular open-source server for handling audio/video streams and hardware on Linux systems.
Every Mission: Impossible Video Game, Ever

Apparently there’s a new Mission: Impossible movie coming out soon. But what there isn’t is a new Mission: Impossible video game, and we’d like to hear someone explain why not. It’s outrageous. The 1960s TV show has games. The first of Cruise’s movies, 1996’s Mission: Impossible, has a game. (No Tom Cruise likeness in …
NOAA Warns of Brutal Atlantic Hurricane Season, as Trump Slashes the Agency

The agency forecasts up to 10 hurricanes for this year, half of which could be major.
China’s 7-Year Tech Independence Push Yields Major Gains in AI, Robotics and Semiconductors
China has achieved substantial technological advances across robotics, AI, and semiconductor manufacturing as part of a seven-year self-reliance campaign that has tripled the country’s research and development spending to $500 billion annually.
Chinese robot manufacturers captured nearly half of their domestic market by 2023, up from a quarter of installations just years earlier, while AI startups now rival OpenAI and Google in capabilities. The progress extends to semiconductors, where Huawei released a high-end smartphone powered by what industry analysts believe was a locally-produced advanced processor, despite U.S. export controls targeting China’s chip access.
Morgan Stanley projects China’s self-sufficiency in graphics processing units will jump from 11% in 2021 to 82% by 2027. Chinese companies have been purchasing as many industrial robots as the rest of the world combined, enabling highly automated factories that can operate in darkness. In space technology, Chinese firms won five of 11 gold medals when U.S. think tanks ranked the world’s best commercial satellite systems last year, compared to four for American companies.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
WhatsApp ‘audio hangouts’ are now open to group chats of any size
WhatsApp is expanding its Discord-like voice chat feature so that group chats of any size can talk to each other in real time. Unlike group calling, which has existed on the app for years, real-time “audio hangouts” are more of a drop-in feature that doesn’t ring every member of the chat.
Voice chats also offer a bit more flexibility than a traditional call because the interface doesn’t take over your whole screen. That means you can still follow along in the chat for new messages or keep an eye on any incoming notifications.
Meta first introduced the feature in 2023, but for some reason limited it to larger groups of 32 to 256 participants, which is likely a lot bigger than the average group thread on the app. Now, though, WhatsApp users can start an audio hangout in both smaller group chats and even larger ones. WhatsApp supports groups of up to 1,024 participants, which sounds extremely chaotic even for texting, much less audio.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsapp-audio-hangouts-are-now-open-to-group-chats-of-any-size-194504841.html?src=rss
AirCar Flying Car Ready For Sale Next Year
Years in development and testing, the AirCar, an uninspiredly named flying car from Klein Vision (also a local optometrist), is set to go into mass production this summer and be on sale in 2026. The vehicle, which uses a regular gasoline engine (and 35 gallon tank) can extends its wings in under 2 minutes with the push of a button, and requires a 1,000-foot runway for takeoff — perfect for taking to the skies on a straight highway after a bank robbery. It has a 124MPH top speed on land, 155MPH in the air, with a range of up to 600 miles at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Unfortunately for anybody who wants one but isn’t reading this from a pool float in their gold vault à la Scrooge McDuck, prices will range from $800,000 – $1,000,000 depending on specs. Obviously, I recommend the ejector seat and life insurance options.
FreeBSD Continues Improving Hardware Support For Framework Laptops, WiFi Devices
The FreeBSD project today published their status report outlining their development happenings during Q1’2025. There’s been a lot going on in the FreeBSD world, especially for improving laptop support and other modern hardware coverage for this BSD operating system…
Boltgun — Words of Vengeance is Warhammer’s grimdark answer to Typing of the Dead
Games Workshop, maker of the popular Warhammer 40K tabletop game, held its annual Warhammer Skulls festival today, and announced a slew of new video games, remasters and DLC for its properties. I’ve collected some of the more exciting announcements below.
First, let’s start with Space Marine 2. In March, Games Workshop announced a sequel was already in development. At the time, the company said the new game was “likely years away from release,” but it also reiterated post-launch support for Space Marine 2 would continue. Today we got an update on Space Marine 2’s long awaited horde mode, called here Siege Mode. It will arrive as part of a free update slated for release on June 26.
However, that’s not all. On June 10th, GW will release Space Marine — Master Crafted Edition. It’s a remaster of the 2011 original developed by Relic Entertainment. The new version features updated textures and character models, with support for 4K resolutions, modernized controls and a refreshed user interface. If you’ve not played Space Marine, it’s worth revisiting if only to hear Mark Strong voice protagonist Captain Titus. Master Crafted Edition arrives on June 10 on Xbox Series X/S and PC through Steam and GOG.
Speaking of Relic, a remaster of the studio’s excellent Dawn of War is also on the way. No word on an exact release date yet, but GW says Dawn of War – Definitive Edition will feature updated visuals, camera controls and a new HUD. The re-release will be compatible with mods for the existing game, and has a 64-bit code base to ensure it’s playable on modern systems for years to come.
For fans of boomer shooters, there’s Boltgun game on the way. It will arrive in 2026, and it’s coming to Steam, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. The new game will pick up right where the first game ended, with a new non-linear single player campaign that has new enemies for players to overcome. Of course, you’ll also have access to new weapons with which to vanquish the Emperor’s enemies in the most cartoonishly violent way possible.
In the meantime, today you can download Boltgun — Words of Vengeance, a free typing action game that will have you spelling words and phrases from Warhammer lore like “thin your paints” and “Ghazghkull.” You bet I’m downloading it right now.
Last but not least, Owlcat, creator of the CRPG Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, is working on a sequel to the criminally underrated Rogue Trader. The new game is adaptation of GW’s Dark Heresy RPG and casts the player as the leader of an Inquisition party. It looks like Owlcat has a bigger budget this time around, which is a great sign for the project. Rogue Trader had moments where it felt like if Owlcat had the time and resources that Larian did to work on Baldur’s Gate 3, it would have been every bit as popular.
Again, those are just some of the announcements Games Workshop made today, so be sure to check out the Warhammer Community website to get the full story.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/boltgun–words-of-vengeance-is-warhammers-grimdark-answer-to-typing-of-the-dead-193515536.html?src=rss
How Did This 1,300-Ton Boulder Travel Up a Cliff? Scientists Just Figured It Out

A seemingly out-of-place boulder in Tonga hints at a massive tsunami that hit the region 7,000 years ago.
How Did This 1,300-Ton Boulder Travel Up a Cliff? Scientists Just Figured It Out

A seemingly out-of-place boulder in Tonga hints at a massive tsunami that hit the region 7,000 years ago.
Apple Plans Glasses for 2026 as Part of AI Push, Nixes Watch With Camera
Apple is aiming to release smart glasses at the end of next year as part of a push into AI-enhanced gadgets, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, but it has shelved plans for a smartwatch that can analyze its surroundings with a built-in camera. From the report: Company engineers are ramping up work on the glasses — a rival to Meta Platforms’s popular Ray-Bans — in a bid to meet the year-end 2026 target, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple will start producing large quantities of prototypes at the end of this year with overseas suppliers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the products haven’t been announced.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Big Warhammer Sale Includes Free Games And Huge Deals

A massive amount of Warhammer 40K games are currently on sale across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam as part of the annual Warhammer Skulls event. If you’ve been wanting to kill some Orks, there’s never been a better time.
Senate votes to kill California’s gas-powered vehicle restrictions
The United States Senate voted 51-44 mostly across party lines on Wednesday to repeal a waiver granted by the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency, allowing the state of California to enact its Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations. ACC II requires that 80 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in California by 2035 be zero-emission.
Notably, the legitimacy of the vote itself was dubious, as the Senate parliamentarian — a nonpartisan staffer who helps the Senate understand its own rules — had warned that the waiver did not fall under the Senate’s purview. The parliamentarian noted that the EPA waiver wasn’t a formal rule but an administrative order. This means the waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the law Senate Republicans used to justify the vote. The CRA only became law in 1996, and had seen little use until recently — it has been used to overturn federal rules a total of 20 times, 16 of which occurred during the previous Trump administration.
The measure will now go to President Trump‘s desk for signature, as the House already passed legislation to repeal the waiver earlier this month.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a DC lobbying group that represents a number of automakers including GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai, celebrated the vote. “These EV sales mandates were never achievable,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the lobbying group. He argued, “Meeting the mandates would require diverting finite capital from the EV transition to purchase compliance credits from Tesla.”
While these automakers rejoiced, environmental protection advocates struck a concerned tone. “It’s deeply disappointing that the Senate used the Congressional Review Act to block states from implementing air pollution standards to improve air quality. This illegitimate move poses threats to public health, the economy and states’ rights.” said Steven Higashide, director of the Clean Transportation Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
As reported in the L.A. Times, Will Barrett, senior director at the American Lung Association and a clean air advocate said, “This is a major blow to the decades-long public health protections delivered under the Clean Air Act.” Highlighting the importance of these waivers he said “It is more important than ever that California and all other states that rely on Clean Air Act waivers continue to cut tailpipe pollution through homegrown, health-protective policies.”
This is just the latest in continued efforts by the current administration to curtail or end legislation that supports or encourages wider adoption of electric vehicles and environmental protection.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/senate-votes-to-kill-californias-gas-powered-vehicle-restrictions-191341389.html?src=rss
A Garmin Update Just Added a Weighted Rucking Setting to These Watches
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A new update to Garmin watches brings a rucking activity, with a pack weight setting, to the Instinct 3 (both regular and Tactical), the Fenix 8 series, and the Enduro 3. Rucking is also available at launch for the new Forerunners, the 570 and the 970. The same software update also brings breathing variation detection to a wide variety of watches, including Vivoactive, Venu, Lily, and Forerunner models.
Rucking—walking with a weighted pack—is both a fitness activity for people looking for a little exercise, and a necessity for many hikers and backpackers. But without a specific activity or pack weight setting, the only obvious way to track it was as a regular hike. Since you move slower when you’re carrying a heavy pack, that was impacting people’s VO2max scores—the watch thinks you’ve slowed down because you’re losing fitness.
The pack weight setting changes that. Besides the rucking activity, the running, trail running, hiking, and walking activities will all have this setting as well (on the supported watches I mentioned above, anyway). This lets you log today’s ruck as being done with a 15-pound pack, and tomorrow’s with a 10-pound pack, if those are the weights you’re carrying.
So far there’s no word on whether rucking or pack weights may be coming to other watches in the future. Older Forerunners, including the just-replaced 265 and 965, aren’t getting the new rucking features.
How to track rucking if your watch isn’t included in the update
If you have one of those older Forerunners, or another watch that doesn’t get rucking in this update, there is a workaround. As pointed out in this Reddit thread, you can create a Cardio workout. (Go to the More menu in Garmin Connect, then Training and Planning, then Create a Workout.)
Create one step in the cardio workout, and for that step, set the exercise to “Walk.” You’ll be able to add a weight. This activity won’t track your location with GPS—so it’s not a great option if you’re hiking in the wilderness or need to track your speed—but some users have found it helpful as a way to record pack weight and time rucked.
What else is in the update
The new software update does have a little treat for the -65 level Forerunners, plus the older 255 and 955, as well as several other watches like the Venu 3, Vivoactive 5, and Vivoactive 6. That’s a feature to detect “breathing variations” during the night. It uses the pulse ox (blood oxygen) feature to detect “shifts in your breathing patterns” while you sleep. They don’t want to call it sleep apnea detection, since this isn’t a medical device, but these variations are the kind of thing you might see if you had sleep apnea.
The update also brings a passcode to lock the device to several devices that didn’t have it before. (Passcodes were introduced for some devices earlier this year.) According to a chart Garmin released with the new update, recent Venu, Vivoactive, and Forerunner watches already had passcodes, and the update brings them to the Lily 2 and the Instinct 3 and E.
Ubuntu 25.10 Switching To Chrony By Default, Enabling Network Time Security
Ubuntu 25.10 is joining the likes of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise that are using Chrony as their Network Time Protocol (NTP) implementation. Ubuntu 25.10 is switching over to Chrony in enabling Network Time Security (NTS) support on Ubuntu Linux…
Mozilla is killing its Pocket and Fakespot services to focus on Firefox
When web services shut down and have time to put up a blog post about it, there’s typically some real understatement in their explanation of “why.” Bookmarking service Pocket’s goodbye post truly delivers on this front, noting almost off-handedly that “the way people use the web has evolved.” Yes, you might just say that.
Both Pocket and another browser add-on, Fakespot, are being shut down by Firefox maker Mozilla in early July. In a post about the closures, Mozilla cites the need to “invest our time and resources so we can make the biggest impact.” Pocket’s saving and curation powers will be implemented into Firefox, while Fakespot’s analysis of online shopping reviews “didn’t fit a model we could sustain.”
Pocket started in 2007 as Read It Later, a way to bookmark web articles for later reading. It’s not just the focus on published text articles that now seems quaint but also the idea that there was a finite amount of web material you would get back to and would have the time to do so. Those who do want that nice-sounding media experience can cobble it together in most modern browsers, which have built-in tools for managing bookmarks, distinct “reading lists,” and even creating stripped-down “readable” versions of articles.
FAA: Airplanes should stay far away from SpaceX’s next Starship launch
The Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light Thursday for SpaceX to launch the next test flight of its Starship mega-rocket as soon as next week, following two consecutive failures earlier this year.
The failures set back SpaceX’s Starship program by several months. The company aims to get the rocket’s development back on track with the upcoming launch, Starship’s ninth full-scale test flight since its debut in April 2023. Starship is central to SpaceX’s long-held ambition to send humans to Mars and is the vehicle NASA has selected to land astronauts on the Moon under the umbrella of the government’s Artemis program.
In a statement Thursday, the FAA said SpaceX is authorized to launch the next Starship test flight, known as Flight 9, after finding the company “meets all of the rigorous safety, environmental and other licensing requirements.”
House passes budget bill that inexplicably bans state AI regulations for ten years
The US House of Representatives just narrowly passed a budget bill, which has been referred to by President Trump and others as “one big, beautiful bill.” Hidden amongst the cuts to health care, debt add-ons and tax breaks for the rich is a ten-year ban of state AI laws. You read that right. States would be banned by the federal government from enforcing laws that regulate AI for the next decade.
The vote fell largely along party lines, with nearly every Republican member of the House approving the bill. This marks one of the most significant federal actions on technology policy in decades and it was buried in a budget bill that has nothing to do with AI.
This isn’t law just yet. The budget bill has to pass through the Senate and it could have a difficult road. It’s expected that Democratic lawmakers will challenge the AI regulation ban under what’s called the Byrd Rule, which prohibits “extraneous” provisions to the federal budget during the reconciliation process.
Here’s the moment from Sen. Blackburn pushing back on the idea of a state AI moratorium. https://t.co/bx0dbL2qmL pic.twitter.com/kAnl0sjudW
— Zamaan Qureshi (@zamaan_qureshi) May 21, 2025
Even some Senate Republicans seem wary of the ban. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee expressed concern that it would override state legislation that protects artists from deepfakes in her state. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has also pushed back on the idea on the grounds that it could “tamp down on people’s efforts to address” issues posed by AI.
Supporters of the ban argue that it would stop a potentially confusing patchwork of differing state AI laws until Congress can craft its own federal legislation. This is pretty odd coming from the “states’ rights” crowd, but whatever.
Opponents, like many Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, call it a dangerous giveaway to big tech firms, as these companies stand to benefit the most from a completely unregulated market. They also say it poses a serious danger to Americans, as it would leave the citizenry unprotected from any associated risk. Current state laws address issues including deepfakes and discrimination in automated hiring.
“Make no mistake, the families who have come to this committee and begged for us to act won’t benefit from this proposal,” said Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan during a subcommittee hearing on the matter. “But you know who will? The big tech CEOs who are sitting behind Donald Trump at his inauguration.”
Rightfully, the cuts to Medicaid (over 10M people will lose their health care) and the tax cuts for the rich have been the story of the disastrous Republican budget bill.
But I read the whole thing. And there are some hidden rats in there you need to know about.
1/ A quick�
— Chris Murphy � (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 20, 2025
The budget bill, as passed by the House, also includes cuts to Medicaid totaling an estimated $625 billion and cuts to SNAP, otherwise called food stamps, totaling $300 billion. It could also force $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, which serves senior citizens, as a byproduct of adding nearly $4 trillion to the national deficit. It also ends the EV tax credit. All of this pays for an extension and expansion of previous tax cuts that disproportionately favor high-income earners.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/house-passes-budget-bill-that-inexplicably-bans-state-ai-regulations-for-ten-years-184936210.html?src=rss
ASUS ROG Unveils 7-In-1 Bulwark Dock & 100W Gaming Charger For Mobile Bliss

Let’s talk about gaming handhelds, dear reader. Actually, first, let’s introduce this product: the ASUS ROG Bulwark, shown at Computex 2025, which is a dock primarily (but not exclusively!) for those very same handhelds. It connects to a compatible device with USB 10Gbps, supplying up to 100W of power, and then provides all kinds of extra
Xbox Exclusive Hellblade 2 Is Headed To PlayStation With A Perk For PS5 Pro

Microsoft’s efforts to become a true multiplatform publisher, including bringing its games to PlayStation, has been paying off with increased sales. The company hopes that the momentum continues as it looks to bring over Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II to Sony’s platform. Especially as the game struggled to find an audience when it launched last