Author: Dhiraj K.

London Robotaxis Face Growing Opposition From Cab DriversLondon’s private hire drivers are urging Mayor Sadiq Khan to slow the arrival of London robotaxis, arguing that driverless services could wipe out thousands of livelihoods before the capital has proven it can handle them safely. Additionally, a fresh London Assembly Transport Committee report questions whether the city is prepared for autonomous passenger vehicles at all.The 66-page document, published on Monday, concludes that members have not heard sufficient evidence to persuade them that London should welcome autonomous passenger services on its streets. Consequently, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain has asked Transport…

The TP-Link router ban in the U.S. is becoming harder for the company to escape. This week, four states filed lawsuits against the router-maker. Iowa, Florida, Montana, and Nebraska all accuse TP-Link of misleading customers about how closely its business connects to China. What the Four States Claim The lawsuits follow a similar pattern. Each one argues that TP-Link has not been honest about how safe its routers are for everyday users. According to the states, this amounts to deceptive trade practices under their consumer protection laws. Ars Technica reported the filings first. The complaints also point to past events.…

Japan is in the middle of a cybersecurity emergency, and the pressure on companies and regulators keeps growing. The Financial Times reports that a wave of attacks has led officials to declare a state of emergency in cyberspace. Regulators are now searching for ways to shield financial institutions from serious disruption. The country has not yet reached the cyber apocalypse that AI companies have warned about. Even so, the damage is already alarming. Here is what we know so far. Ransomware Attacks Trigger an Emergency Response Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party called an emergency meeting of its National Cybersecurity Office.…

The Fort Hood execution livestream plan has pulled the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into an unusual debate. FCC chair Brendan Carr says the agency has no role in the matter. He added that he will defer to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan is currently planned for Dec. 3. What Hegseth Actually Announced Hegseth said he wants to ensure “that people are able to watch” the firing squad execution of Hasan. The announcement came with Trump’s authorization. However, Hegseth did not explain what that means in practice. The Pentagon could stream the event on its own…

The Qalo SL-1 Smart Band is a new wrist wearable that tracks your health without a screen or a monthly fee. Qalo, known for its subscription-free smart ring, just announced the band as a partner to its SR-2 Smart Ring. Together, the two devices let you choose how you wear your tracker throughout the day. What Is the Qalo SL-1 Smart Band? The SL-1 is a small, rectangular sensor pod that sits on your wrist. It looks much like the Whoop 5.0 and Garmin’s Cirqa, two other screenless trackers. You can attach it to silicone or fabric straps, depending on…

The Meta AI data center tax credit is drawing fresh scrutiny after a new New York Times report. According to the Times, Meta has used an aggressive tax strategy for two years. If the report holds up, taxpayers have indirectly helped fund the company’s AI expansion. What the New York Times Reported Four people familiar with Meta’s operations spoke to the Times. They said Meta describes its AI data centers to the IRS as “pilot models,” meaning experimental projects. That label matters, because experimental work can qualify for the research and experimentation tax credit. Publicly, the company tells a different…

This GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS review starts with a blunt verdict. GoPro built the first action camera that accepts third-party lenses, and the idea sounds exciting. In practice, the camera loses much of what makes a GoPro useful. It also falls short of what professionals expect from a lens-swapping body. The ILS costs $700, the same as the standard Mission 1 Pro. For that price, buyers give up several features and gain a lot of hassle. What the ILS Model Is Supposed to Do The ILS uses a micro four-thirds mount. As a result, you can fit lenses from…

Researchers have built an AI system that can estimate time since death by reading the microbes on a body. The tool, called mHolmes, appeared in a new Nature Communications study. It could help forensic teams when remains are fragmented or badly decomposed. Why It Is So Hard to Estimate Time Since Death Forensic scientists call this timeframe the postmortem interval, or PMI. Getting it right matters in any death investigation, yet the task remains difficult. Kang Ning, a co-author of the study, works in bioinformatics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He explains that earlier microbiome methods collect samples…

One AI-generated crocodile image has landed a 30-year-old man in serious legal trouble in Singapore. Authorities say Ye Lin, originally from Myanmar, shared a fake picture of a crocodile in a reservoir at a popular public park. He may have meant it as a joke. The response, however, was entirely real. What Happened at the Park Park staff saw the image and treated the threat seriously. They shut down all water activities in the area right away. Then they spent two days searching the reservoir. Of course, they found no crocodile. Once officials realized the image was fake, the park…

The Pentagon data breach is finally reaching the people it affects. The Department of Defense has started notifying current and former service members that hackers stole their personal records. These notices follow days of reports that the incident could touch millions of people. What We Know About the Pentagon Data Breach Hackers broke into the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), one of the military’s main record-keeping systems. On Wednesday, TechCrunch reported that a Reddit user had posted a breach notification letter. According to the letter, the attackers accessed the user’s Social Security number and other personal details. This is the…