Technology

In the mid 2000s, I was fascinated with the reality TV show Aussie Ladette to Lady. It branded a "new breed" of Australian woman as loud, vulgar, and unfit for any self-respecting society, thrusting them into weeks-long sophistication training that, of course, never lasted. In a nutshell, this is also the premise for the new Netflix series My Brilliant Career.

In hindsight, the former TV show was nothing but an excuse to vilify a new kind of 'modern woman' for the sake of viewing figures, purposefully engineering mistakes to be captured on camera through the magic of reality TV production. If these producers were around in the early 1900s, Sybylla (Philippa Northeast) would be ripe for the picking.

My Brilliant Career introduces us to the voracious, outspoken, and self-assured eldest daughter from Possum Gully (what an incredible name) as she's forced to move into her Grandma's (Anna Chancellor) house to be conditioned for her entry to high society. Convinced that she doesn't want a husband but instead wants to live life to the fullest — and become a published writer in the process — Sybylla is a woman before her time. For us in 2026, that also means she's timeless.

How? Her refusal to back down, concede to a patriarchal society that is built for her to fail, and an impeccable ability to see the godforsaken truth from a mile away. Sybylla is the type of woman most of us aspire to be now, let alone over 100 years ago.

So framing her plight in early 20th-century Australia only makes her triumphs all the more delicious. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the six-episode binge doesn't even feel like a typical period drama.

As a renowned hater of the genre, watching My Brilliant Career is the most unexpected pleasure I've had so far this year — and I'll happily vouch for it being the strongest and most authentic show that Netflix has released across 2026 to date. And what if I said that I even prefer it to Bridgerton?

My Brilliant Career is the joyous binge I need in my life right now

If you know a thing or two about Australian New Wave Cinema, you might recognize this story already. Based on the novel of the same name by Miles Franklin (who, if you haven't guessed, is a woman using her middle name as a pseudonym), My Brilliant Career was first adapted for film in 1979.

But as incredible as Judy Davis and Sam Neill were, Netflix's typically frustrating and overused style actually works to unlock something even more playful in Franklin's story. Every decision, from production design to soundtrack, is one that doesn't take itself seriously, and allows Sybylla to simultaneously run wild and challenge authority in one fell swoop.

If you are a woman who grew up believing that by being a "good girl," you were able to get ahead in life, My Brilliant Career is the metaphoric kick in the nuts you've always wanted to give the world.

Throughout its six episodes, there are so many instances where I feel as though Sybylla is living my dream. Telling people what she truly thinks regardless of consequence? Bliss. Having the time and space to think and create freely? I could only imagine. Being so self-assured at such a young age? Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm at her level as a 31-year-old.

All of this makes My Brilliant Career one of those beautiful moments where you are so immersed in what you are watching that time, as you know it, is suspended. Throughout those six episodes, the only truth that exists in your life is the one that's playing out on screen. And that, my friends, is the sign of a job done well.

Anna Chancellor as a grandma? That can't be right

(Image credit: Netflix)

My Brilliant Career is scandalous for its time, but don't think that equates to the bonkbusting boundaries of Bridgerton. Personally, I think that this element is a little oversold, especially as it doesn't need outright sex scenes to feel like a rampant, virginal teen. Less certainly is more... as is the use of words, not actions.

But these effects are only possible thanks to the phenomenal casting. Northeast's Sybylla at once embodies every decade of life that she'll ever live, and her wisdom and wit are frankly spellbinding. The same can be said for Kate Mulvany's intoxicating Aunt Augusta, whose moral quandary between a man's world and a woman's needs is more thoughtful than most think pieces on the subject I've ever read.

A particular shoutout must go to the woman I've parasocially loved since her appearance in the 2002 adaptation of Tipping the Velvet: Anna Chancellor. Though I still cannot get my head around the idea of her playing someone's grandmother, she's exactly the calibre of actor you want when a period drama takes a more bohemian turn. She manages to make absolutely everything feel like the first time you've ever seen it, and her delicious delivery never fails to delight me.

Netflix, I have to give it to you. Just when I think I've experienced everything you have to offer, a treat for the eye and mind like My Brilliant Career comes along and blows me away. Maybe you never lost your touch after all.

My Brilliant Career is on Netflix from August 13.

There are three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes and me seeking out the best coffee machine deals during major sales events such as Afterpay Day. Yes, I love a hunt for discounts on the givers of life that are coffee machines, and this week there are plenty to shop.

Admittedly, some stores’ discounts aren’t quite as good as other events such as Black Friday, and some retailers don’t have any discounts at all! But I’m confident that the models I’ve picked out for you below will fill the coffee-machine-void in your life kitchen.

My selections cover automatic, manual and capsule coffee machines to suit a variety of budgets, so there really is something for everyone. And based on my experience reviewing coffee machines, they deliver the true crema de la crema (see what I did there?) of at-home espresso.

I have seen this highly capable and, dare I say, cute coffee machine get closer to AU$430 before, but this is the best price I can currently find. This compact machine is ideal for small kitchens and you’re guaranteed a well-extracted shot of espresso, making it a great option for coffee machine newbies. You'll need to pair it with a great coffee grinder if you want to use beans, or you can simply use ground coffee instead. Don’t forget to grab a unique 10% Breville coupon code for the full savings. View Deal

The Ninja Luxe Cafe is a regular feature in any coffee machine deals round up, owing to the fact that it can brew virtually any coffee-based drink you can think of. What’s more, it’s very simple to use — as we said in our Ninja Luxe Cafe review, it’s "an espresso machine anyone can master". You get plenty of help coming from various technologies that will determine the ideal grind size and automatically froth milk for you. The best price I’ve found only applies to the Cyberspace colour (pictured), which is my second-favourite after Oat Milk. View Deal

This compact coffee machine consistently brews a wonderful espresso and benefits from a manual steam wand that gives you super-silky, well-texturised milk (even non-dairy types). Its preset drinks menu is limited and while its iced coffee isn't the best I've come across, for a machine that will take up barely any space on your counter and give you a delicious brew every morning, it's well worth it.View Deal

Taking the spot for the best entry-level bean-to-cup coffee maker, the Philips Baristina is simple to use, taking care of the grinding, tamping and pouring for you. The porta filter will even automatically slide into position for you. Do note there's no milk frothing here, but a matching milk frother is available.View Deal

We rate the Vertuo Creatista as the best Nespresso machine out there thanks to its use of the Vertuo pods, which come in a range of cup and mug sizes and an integrated milk frother. It performs exceptionally well, too, and will brew your morning cuppa in no time at all. This offer includes a Milk Essentials kit via redemption, comprising two travel mugs, a milk jug and a set of coffee glasses.View Deal

This compact manual coffee machine can pour up to two espresso shots at once and features a steam wand for cafe-quality milk foaming. There's no built-in grinder, but you could either use ground coffee beans or invest in a separate grinder using the cash you save with this deal.View Deal

If you buy or already own a coffee machine that doesn’t have its own built-in grinder, this option from Breville is a great place to start. It offers 60 grind settings to help you really experiment with your cuppa joe and accommodates porta filter sizes from 50 to 58mm. View Deal

• Tech leaders are finding complexities with contacts, vendors, and platforms are restricting transformation
• Network resilience is increasingly an issue for leaders, rather than just IT
• Businesses are relying on too much technology

New research has lifted the lid on how small business tech leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to ensure technology can drive change, citing network issues, increased complexity, and a lack of buy-in from other departments.

A rsurvey by Zen Internet of 500 tech leaders are mid-market and above companies, the research paints a depressing picture. IT departments and infrastructure are integral aspects of running a business, but too often – as indicated here – their expertise and purpose are misunderstood or simply ignored. The result seems to be a mismatch of contracts, vendors, and platforms slowing change.

Of particular concern is the suggestion that network modernization, while desirable, is unlikely for many businesses due to struggles with suppliers.

Network resilience equals success

Results from the research make for sobering reading about what influence senior technology decision-makers have concerning investment into tech. A worrying 78% state that complexities are slowing change, and highlight challenges with multiple vendors, platforms, and contracts.

This suggests various issues, such as external departments making unilateral procurement decisions for software and hardware (a challenge that has existed for decades and one that comes with various unexpected implications for the buyer). Similarly, 49% of leaders feel their biggest barrier to making long-term decisions is the lack of commitment from non-IT leadership.

The research also shows 51% of technology leaders in the UK consider network resilience to be business critical, with outages having an impact on revenue and customers. Similarly, 94% consider network resilience to be important to their business’ overall success.

While 36% state network modernization will be their biggest investment over the next few years, of concern are responses concerning third parties. 47% believe suppliers delay projects, and 31% feel they block changes.

IT is infrastructure

Based on the findings of the research, the state of UK businesses from an IT point of view is disappointing.

"Too many organisations are spending valuable time managing multiple suppliers, disconnected systems and separate security solutions when they should be focused on innovation and delivering value to customers," noted Jon Nowell, Managing Director of Zen Business.

"The challenge isn't simply keeping businesses connected. It's giving them the confidence that their network can support growth, cloud adoption, AI initiatives and new ways of working, while ensuring users, applications and data remain secure without adding more complexity.”

Finding a solution to the question of heel-dragging suppliers and finding a smart approach to challenges presented by contracts that may no longer be fit-for-purpose – while also encouraging leadership on network and infrastructure challenges – seem to be the priorities.

After months of leaks and rumours, Google has officially launched its new flagship Pixel handsets, introducing a wave of hardware upgrades and even a new ‘HiLight’ feature. Also unveiled were a new Pixel Watch and the Pixel Tag, Google’s answer to the Apple AirTag.

Pre-orders have also kicked off in Australia, with retailers and telcos offering a variety of deals, including up to AU$1,000 in savings or some free gifts, depending on which model you’re after.

Retailers JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys are handing out a free Google Fitbit Air, Pixel Buds and even the new Pixel Watch 5 as part of their pre-order offers, but the most standout deal we’ve found comes from Vodafone, which is offering a free PlayStation 5 console (plus a bonus controller) with select models. With the PS5 seeing price hikes over the past few years, this is an offer not to be missed.

Devices will start shipping from August 20, though pre-order offers are set to run longer — August 26 for the retailers we’ve picked and as late as October 6 for selected telco deals.

The best Google Pixel 11 pre-order deals

Get a free Fitbit Air and 3 months of YouTube Premium

JB Hi-Fi is offering a free Google Fitbit Air fitness tracker with every Google Pixel 11 pre-order from today up to August 26, as well as 3 months of YouTube Premium. You can also trade in your old device for a gift card for extra savings. View Deal

Google Pixel 11 (256GB) | Vodafone Small Plan | 65GB | 24 months | AU$80.36p/m

Vodafone is offering a AU$650 handset discount on the base Pixel 11, and a AU$13p/m discount on the 65GB Small Plan for the first 12 months, making this the cheapest telco pre-order deal. The plan includes unlimited national calls and texts, unlimited international texts and 5GB of daily roaming for an extra AU$5. This offer ends on September 30.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 (256GB) | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$81.58p/m

Optus is also offering a handset discount on the Pixel 11, but only AU$500, though the plan fee discount is bigger at AU$20p/m for the Small Choice Plus Plan for the first 12 months, making it competitive enough with the Voda offer above. The plan includes unlimited national calls and texts and 5GB of daily roaming for an extra AU$5. This offer runs until October 6.View Deal

The best Google Pixel 11 Pro pre-order deals

Get a free Fitbit Air, Pixel Buds 2a, 3 months of YouTube Premium and 6 months of Google AI Pro

In addition to the free Fitbit Air and YouTube Premium, JB Hi-Fi is throwing in a pair of Pixel Buds 2a and 6 months of Google AI Pro when you pre-order a Google Pixel 11 Pro from today up to August 26. Device trade-ins are also available here.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro (256GB) | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$96.19p/m

Optus is also offering a AU$500 handset discount on the Pixel 11 Pro and the same AU$20p/m price cut for the Small Choice Plus Plan for the first 12 months. The plan includes unlimited national calls and texts and 5GB of daily roaming for an extra AU$5. This offer runs until October 6.View Deal

The best Google Pixel 11 Pro XL pre-order deals

Get a free Fitbit Air, Pixel Buds Pro 2, 3 months of YouTube Premium and 6 months of Google AI Pro

JB Hi-Fi swaps the Pixel Buds 2a for the Pixel Buds Pro 2 when you opt for the bigger Pixel 11 Pro XL, and you also get a free Fitbit Air, YouTube Premium and Google AI Pro subscriptions like the Pro above. This offering also runs until August 26, and you can also trade in your old device to save on the handset price.View Deal

Get a free Fitbit Air and Pixel Buds Pro 2

The Good Guys is offering a similar deal with a free Fitbit Air and Pixel Buds Pro 2, but the offer will run slightly longer, ending on August 27. The retailer is also offering standard local delivery with every pre-order.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL (256GB) | Vodafone Small Plan | 65GB | 24 months | AU$132.45p/m inc. free PS5

Vodafone is only discounting the plan fees by AU$13p/m for the Pixel 11 Pro XL, but it’s making up for the high monthly cost by throwing in a PlayStation 5 console and an extra DualSense Wireless Controller (valued at AU$1,009) for free if you pre-order by August 19. The Small Choice Plus Plan includes unlimited national calls and texts, unlimited international texts and 5GB of daily roaming for an extra AU$5.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL (256GB) | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$85.78p/m

If you already have a PS5 or don’t want one and just want an outright bargain, Optus is offering AU$1,000 off the Google Pixel Pro XL. When paired with the AU$20p/m discount on the first 12 months of the Optus Small Choice Plus Plan, this makes the Pro XL cheaper than the smaller Pro by AU$11p/m.View Deal

The best Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold pre-order deals

Get a free Google Pixel Watch 5

JB Hi-Fi is upping the ante with the most expensive Pixel 11 model, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, by bundling in the just-released Google Pixel Watch 5 for free instead of the Fitbit Air and Pixel Buds in the offers above. The deal applies to the larger 45mm Wi-Fi version, which costs AU$699.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold (256GB) | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$114.94p/m

Like the Pixel 11 Pro XL above, Optus is also discounting the new Pixel foldable by AU$1,000 when you pre-order. When paired with the AU$20p/m discount on the first 12 months of the Optus Small Choice Plus Plan, you’ll be paying AU$114.94 per month for the first year and AU$134.94 for the rest of the plan.View Deal

Google announced everything before its actual live event, but there were still plenty of interesting things at the company’s Pixel announce event.

The term spring cleaning exists for a reason, and the new season is right around the corner, officially kicking off in Australia on Tuesday, September 1. That means you don’t have long to get your cleaning tools in order, specifically a vacuum cleaner. If your current model could do with an upgrade, this perfectly timed deal of nearly 50% off the Shark PowerDetect Cordless could be just the thing you’re looking for.

And while it might be tempting to opt for a Dyson — especially now that the premium brand has set its Afterpay Day deals live — Shark makes some of the best on the market at lower prices even when not discounted. Right now, though, you can grab the Shark PowerDetect Cordless that we consider to be the best cordless vacuum in Australia, for AU$619 (down from AU$1,199).

The Shark PowerDetect combines the power of the brand’s Stratos line with the clever dirt-detecting skills of the Detect Pro line, delivering great results. It aced our cleaning tests thanks to its excellent suction. We love the fact that the wand can bend to get under furniture, and that it works wonders on carpets and hard floors. You also get a self-emptying docking station.View Deal

Given that we consider the Shark PowerDetect Cordless to be the best stick vac in Australia, it’s no surprise it’s also the best Shark vacuum in our opinion. As our vacuum-expert reviewer, Ruth Hamilton, says, “the PowerDetect Cordless came out top in my cleaning trials, beating even Dyson's priciest vacuums to the cleaning crown”.

She also loved how it can automatically adjust suction depending on the floor surface, stating “It knows what type of floor it's on and how dirty that floor is, and whether it's near the edge of a room, and will increase or lower suction in response.”

The PowerDetect further justifies its higher price tag by offering an additional feature called DirectionDetect, which means it can clean just as well when it’s pulled backwards as it does when pushed forward — a rare addition that you won’t find in many machines at its discounted price. It also has a large battery that’s rated for up to 70 minutes of runtime, which is a figure we can certainly vouch for, with it managing 67 minutes in our tests.

The only slight downside is that the PowerDetect Cordless is pretty heavy, and some users may find it a little tricky to manoeuvre around their home. However, it’s at least comfortable to hold thanks to an ergonomically shaped handle, complete with a rubberised grip and padding.

This isn’t quite the lowest price I’ve ever seen on this talented vacuum — it dropped to AU$566 during the recent Prime Day sales. However, for it to receive such a hefty discount so soon, and just in time for the spring season, makes it one well worth considering.

• A 150M model reached 29.5% while costing just $0.0007 per task
• ChatGPT scored higher, yet its comparable reasoning runs cost substantially more
• BDH-CQ performs reasoning internally instead of generating lengthy intermediate text

Pathway, an AI lab focused on building Post-Transformer architectures, has released new benchmark results for its BDH-CQ reasoning model.

According to the researchers, their 150M-parameter model scored 29.5% pass@2 on the public ARC-AGI-1 evaluation set.

It achieved this at a computed inference cost of $0.0007 per task, roughly eleven times cheaper than ChatGPT's underlying GPT 5.6 Luna (Low) model.

A cheaper way to reason

Today, many AI tools waste computing power because of how they are designed, not because deep reasoning demands it.

"Today's AI pays a steep token cost for reasoning, but that cost is imposed by architecture, not by any law of intelligence," said Zuzanna Stamirowska, CEO and co-founder of Pathway.

“We show that a different architecture changes the game and opens up a whole new space in terms of how much intelligence per dollar.”

Amazon Web Services believes that BDH-CQ’s result is a promising step toward using advanced AI reasoning in real products more affordably.

"Customers are increasingly exploring how to move advanced reasoning from experimentation into production, where performance, efficiency, and scalability all matter," said Nicolas Tarducci of AWS.

ARC-AGI-1, a widely used reasoning benchmark for AI systems, checks whether a system can infer an underlying rule from limited examples and apply it correctly to new inputs.

In this test, OpenAI's Luna model scored only slightly higher at 34.2%, yet running it still costs significantly more ($0.008 per task).

That price gap already includes OpenAI's recent 80% price cut on Luna, which began on July 30th of this year.

Further up the chart, Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro reach 97–98% but cost around $0.5 – $0.6 per task, meaning the frontier's very top costs close to a thousand times more than BDH-CQ for the highest scores.

On the cheap end, Qwen3 235B costs over three times more than BDH-CQ while scoring worse than even its Low variant, so it isn't a real competitor on either price or performance.

"Pathway shows that model architecture, not just scale, can drive the next leap in AI reasoning," said Łukasz Kaiser, co-author of the original 2017 Transformer paper.

Why it costs so much less

The efficiency gap stems mainly from a structural difference in how each system actually performs reasoning during inference computations.

Many reasoning AI systems generate intermediate text, adding one token after another before producing their final answers.

The longer that written reasoning becomes, the more it costs to run and the slower the AI responds to each request.

BDH-CQ works quite differently, quietly solving problems inside its own memory instead of writing everything down first as visible text.

Pathway also confirmed that early experiments already follow standard Transformer-like scaling laws across model sizes from 1B to 600B parameters.

The company also plans to extend this approach toward harder benchmarks, including mathematical reasoning, ARC-AGI-2, and eventually full ARC-AGI-3 evaluations.

If these efficiency gains hold across larger and more difficult tasks, cost rather than raw capability could increasingly separate rival reasoning systems.

• A Redditor has turned their phone into a desktop PC, sort of
• This involves jamming the device between two hefty CPU coolers
• The results are seriously impressive, including running PC games at playable frame rates on a Linux desktop

Have you ever thought about using your phone as a PC? A creative hardware modder has taken this idea very literally, actually turning their smartphone into a makeshift PC by jamming the device inside a custom case, sandwiched between a pair of beefy desktop CPU coolers.

Wccftech spotted a Reddit post with a title that provides a succinct summary of the achievement here: "I turned my Nubia Z70 Ultra into a desktop PC with TWO CPU coolers – 99% stability, Linux desktop and 1080p Ultra Windows gaming."

To break this down, what the Redditor ('ntsow') has done is take the Nubia Z70 Ultra, an Android phone, and remove the screen. The display was transferred to the front of a custom-made acrylic case, and the phone itself was placed between two big old processor coolers, as mentioned, with direct contact on the Snapdragon chip's shielding (for the maximum cooling effect – which is why the screen must come off).

(Image credit: ntsow on Reddit)

On the software side, the Redditor explains: "I'm running a full XFCE Linux desktop through Termux, with GPU acceleration, plus Windows apps/games. The goal is basically to use the phone as the whole PC."

Quite a few Redditors are asking how this system runs PC games, and the answer is via Wine and Box64, or in some cases, using GameNative, an Android emulator.

Given the cooling, this mobile Snapdragon chip can be pushed pretty hard, and more importantly, it can keep that up with sustained and taxing workloads.

The phone-turned-PC can run Windows games surprisingly well as a result – and the 24GB of RAM on-board doesn't hurt either (which is, of course, a pricey proposition on a PC these days).

What kind of frame rates does the Redditor get? We're told that The Witcher 3 runs at 20 to 30 frames per second (fps) at Full HD resolution and with 'ultra' details.

Analysis: devilishly daring

(Image credit: ntsow on Reddit)

Remember, this is an Android phone playing Windows games, and to do so at a playable enough frame rate (it even goes over 30 fps at times) is impressive. What's also noteworthy is that the Snapdragon phone CPU used here isn't Qualcomm's top-tier mobile silicon. It's an older Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and as the Redditor points out, you'd get more pep from the newer Gen 5 processors (4.6GHz vs 4.3GHz).

Among the admirers, there are some alarms raised about the temperature recorded in The Witcher 3 screenshot. The Redditor explains that this is because it was grabbed with the phone running in 'Diablo Mode,' which pushes the components at full power with overclocking. If that isn't on, then the CPU doesn't get as toasty – although presumably you're not going to get over the 30 fps mark, either.

Still, this is a very nifty piece of work, and as one commenter on the thread remarks, it is: "One of the most insane things I've seen on Reddit in months."

I've got to agree, and while this is obviously a very extreme angle on modding, it may point the way to the future where phones are increasingly used as our computing devices.

The starting price for the Pixel 11 is $899, the 11 Pro is $1,099, and the 11 Pro XL is $1,299. Which one do you get? Here’s our Pixel buying guide.

• MyOffice closes St. Petersburg and Innopolis development centers, moving remaining staff into Kaspersky Lab's Moscow office after restructuring
• Parent company New Cloud Technologies restated its 2025 accounts in June 2026, raising the net loss from 4.02 billion to 8.82 billion rubles, roughly $107 million, while revenue halved to about 1 billion rubles
• Kaspersky Lab, which owns 68.8%, has moved the asset to "slow burn" mode, with its CEO saying publicly that import substitution does not work in the office segment

Russia's flagship attempt to replace Microsoft Office has closed the office where the product was actually built.

MyOffice, developed by New Cloud Technologies, has reportedly closed its St. Petersburg and Innopolis development centers, according to news outlet Vedomosti (in Russian), which spoke with current and former employees.

CEO Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky confirmed several offices had closed without saying which ones, and said that remaining staff had moved to the Moscow office of the company's controlling shareholder, Kaspersky Lab, in the Olympia Park business center.

An expected exit for Russia's take on Microsoft Office?

After four years in a captive market, a state mandate, and no Microsoft to compete with, MyOffice still managed to lose two points of market share, and its financials suggest a potential long-term rout for the software company.

The numbers in MyOffice's case are possibly the most damning here; its net loss for 2025 was 8.82 billion rubles (roughly $107 million), a sevenfold increase over the previous year.

It is important to note that this follows a June 18 2026 resubmission of its accounts for the year, which more than doubled its reported loss (RU) from 4.02 billion rubles to its current level; much of this was due to impairment losses on the company's intangible assets (software).

This was somewhat prompted by the company, which is majority-owned by Kaspersky Labs (68.8%), as it cut back on several services and products, many of which were quietly discontinued as part of a restructuring that also saw it lay off employees in a bid to balance its books.

This includes several products that form the backbone of its software offerings: Mailion, MyOffice Mail, Squadus, and Documents Online, which saw development suspended even as current deployments were sustained.

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the CEO of Kaspersky Labs, Eugene Kaspersky, told TASS that the asset was loss-making and had been moved to what he called "slow-burn mode", with development investment cut. Product development and support, he said, would continue at a reduced level. He went further than the financials required, stating that import substitution does not work in the office segment.

This is a damning verdict for a company that is 24.96 billion rubles in debt to its primary shareholder, up 33% over the last year.

Despite having the most perfect set of conditions, including Microsoft formally withdrawing from the domestic market amid lawsuits and a legal mandate from the state for local bodies and critical infrastructure operators to operate domestic software only, MyOffice did not manage to turn its windfall to its advantage; its product share of the domestic market actually shrunk from 5% to 3% (RU) in 2025. Its retreat is simply the result of its failure to make people use its products despite the competitive advantages it was offered.

• Channel 300 brings you Fairground AI, 24/7 AI video
• Critics have been harsh, calling the channel "slop"
• Could this be a lawsuit waiting to happen?

Roku has added four new channels to its Roku Channel collection: Mad TV, Retro Black Laughs, Whose Line Is It Anyway, and Fairground AI. That last one is a world first: it's the first free, ad-supported streaming TV channel dedicated exclusively to AI-generated content. Or as Futurism calls it, "an unending conveyor belt of AI slop."

Fairground Entertainment says it's "a landmark moment in the distribution of AI Cinema, a groundbreaking new form of storytelling that merges cinematic production values with the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence."

According to CEO Colin Petrie-Norris, it's a genuinely groundbreaking moment for AI Cinema.

According to The Verge, it's "like eating from a trough."

Fairground AI is working directly with well-known AI users, and it'll consider content uploaded from anyone (Image credit: Fairground)What are people saying about Fairground AI?

That very much depends on which people you're reading. On X, AI fans and boosters are very excited, not least because you can upload your own GenAI videos in the hope of being featured on the channel. Fairground AI says it'll pay for that video.

However, more cynical sorts aren't impressed. "That new Fairground AI channel on Roku is so bad, it makes North Korean propaganda shows look good," says PSYMAGE on X. "It's kind of must watch for a little while, if only to see the cutting edge of AI slop."

Futurism isn't pulling any punches. "It broadcasts AI-generated abominations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only interruption to this slop flow state are intermittent ads — which are also AI-generated. It sounds more like a concept for a sci-fi torture device than it does a source of genuine entertainment, but it is, unfortunately, real."

While there are some interesting things being done by some of Fairground's creators, the AI videos being shared on X are attracting criticisms familiar to anyone who's seen much genAI video: dialog is bad and poorly delivered, cuts are incoherent, weird things happen on-screen, and the visuals are derivative. It's fair to say that if you're not a fan of genAI content, this channel isn't going to change your mind.

But I think there's a more serious issue. We've just seen the AI music platform Suno lose a lawsuit over unauthorized and unpaid use of copyrighted content in its AI models' training data. By monetizing generative AI video that's likely to be from models trained on commercially released content, Fairground AI may find itself attracting attention from something more terrifying than any AI-generated monster: movie studios' lawyers.

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• Russian multicathode built and tested, but full lithography machine still years away from existing
• Wafer exposure could drop from two weeks to five minutes flat
• Electron beam tips measure just 1.5 to 2 nanometers wide

A Russian startup has unveiled a multipath electronic lithograph project intended to manufacture modern microchips at significantly greater speed than before.

The core technology is a multicathode capable of generating multiple electron beams simultaneously, which has reportedly been built and tested by engineers.

Developers say the device could expose a silicon wafer in roughly five to seven minutes, compared with one to two weeks for older single-beam machines.

Multicathode breakthrough

"We have developed an end-to-end technology for creating a multicathode and confirmed its operability in practice," said Evgeny Givargizov, the project's main developer.

He added that arrays of these electron sources rank among the sharpest ever produced, with tip radii of only 1.5 to 2 nanometers.

Unlike many foreign multipath systems that rely on complex beam-splitting optics with mirrors and shutters, the Russian design creates independent sources directly on one substrate.

This approach could lower engineering complexity, reduce energy consumption, and cut equipment costs relative to conventional single-beam lithography systems.

The project was first unveiled publicly at the Strong Ideas for Modern Times forum, where researchers described the completed research phase.

The developed and tested multicathode is only the electron-beam source, one component of the planned lithography machine.

Officials clarified that no finished lithography machine exists yet, since only the scientific research stage has so far concluded successfully.

The upcoming development phase is expected to focus mainly on building the full lithograph around the already validated multicathode source.

Long road to industrial use

Sergey Sazonov, a microelectronics expert at Russia's National Technology Initiative, described the concept as promising if multicathode control proves reliable at scale.

"The technology looks interesting and promising, but there is still a lot of work to be done before an industrial alternative emerges," said Sazonov.

Engineering specialist Sergey Varnavsky offered a more cautious view, noting that only the multicathode component currently exists in working form.

He warned that prolonged funding delays could allow rival technologies abroad to advance further before any finished lithograph reaches production.

Even so, he suggested limited competition within Russia's domestic market could still create demand among local chip and circuit board manufacturers.

Varnavsky noted that overall success would depend heavily on securing consistent funding through every remaining stage of the project's testing.

Developers estimate a working prototype could take roughly three years to build, spanning chip standards from 350 nm down to a few nanometers.

According to the team, maximum resolution today depends mainly on available photoresist materials rather than the electron beam source itself.

This distinction suggests that future resolution improvements may still hinge on materials science advances rather than further electron optics breakthroughs.

For now, the multicathode remains a promising laboratory result rather than proof that Russia can rival established chipmaking equipment leaders like IMEC.

Via Izvestia (originally in Russian)

At Defcon, a strange-looking print pushed a researcher below an AI camera’s detection threshold. Now its creator is putting patterns like it on shirts and hoodies, even though worn clothing remains the big unproven test.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, August 12 (game #1661).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• T

• P

• W

• S

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1662) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1662, are…

• TOPAZ
• PURGE
• WHINE
• SIGHT

A rare 5-vowel-game that also featured a rare letter.

Fortunately, I could only think of one word involving T, P, O, and A, so took the leap with few doubts.

Daily Sequence today (game #1662) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1662, are…

• BLURT
• FRONT
• ALLOY
• DITTO

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1661, Wednesday, 12 August: HOTLY, CROWD, HEART, SWASH
• Quordle #1660, Tuesday, 11 August: ONSET, BRAWL, TEPID, SLANG
• Quordle #1659, Monday, 10 August: GAVEL, CRUSH, SPEED, ETHOS
• Quordle #1658, Sunday, 9 August: KAPPA, WIDEN, FOLIO, STEEP
• Quordle #1657, Saturday, 8 August: FUROR, BUGLE, REUSE, SCOOP
• Quordle #1656, Friday, 7 August: AMISS, SHIRK, SALSA, RABBI
• Quordle #1655, Thursday, 6 August: AMUSE, BRAND, CEDAR, BLURB
• Quordle #1654, Wednesday, 5 August: MOUND, WRONG, STOOD, WEIRD
• Quordle #1653, Tuesday, 4 August: GOOEY, TARDY, HUMAN, CHALK
• Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
• Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
• Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
• Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
• Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
• Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, August 12 (game #1158).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1159) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• COMFORT
• EASE
• SHOULDER
• INCH
• MILES
• CARRY ON
• FEET
• CHECKED BAGS
• CREEP
• TURKEY
• UPGRADE
• MAKE IT
• PERSIST
• EDGE
• LOUNGE
• CONTINUE

NYT Connections today (game #1159) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Press onwards
• GREEN: Gradual progress
• BLUE: Frequent flyer gifts
• PURPLE: Begin with the opposite of “hot”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1159) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PERSEVERE
• GREEN: MOVE SLOWLY (UP TO)
• BLUE: AIRLINE STATUS PERKS
• PURPLE: "COLD" THINGS, IN IDIOMS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1159) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1159, are…

• YELLOW: PERSEVERE: CARRY ON, CONTINUE, MAKE IT, PERSIST
• GREEN: MOVE SLOWLY (UP TO): CREEP, EASE, EDGE, INCH
• BLUE: AIRLINE STATUS PERKS: CHECKED BAGS, LOUNGE, MILES, UPGRADE
• PURPLE: "COLD" THINGS, IN IDIOMS: COMFORT, FEET, SHOULDER, TURKEY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

Now that this game is completed I can’t believe I completely missed “COLD” THINGS IN IDIOMS while I exerted all my energies on muddling together the other three groups.

I made mistakes for all of them — CONTINUE instead of EASE for MOVE SLOWLY (UP TO); SHOULDER (I was thinking of soldiering on, no doubt) instead of MAKE IT for PERSEVERE; and COMFORT instead of MILES for AIRLINE STATUS PERKS.

I have only ever been in an airport LOUNGE once and it felt like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer gets a glimpse at the life beautiful people live. The beautiful people would probably be less impressed by free shrimp than I was.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, August 12, 2026, game #1158)

• YELLOW: HOLD ONTO, AS A FEELING: FOSTER, HARBOR, MAINTAIN, NURSE
• GREEN: KINDS OF FROGS: BULL, GREEN, POISON DART, TREE
• BLUE: NBC SITCOM SURNAMES: BENES, BING, LEMON, SCOTT
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSES: FINE PRINT, GOODBYE, GREAT WHITE, OKAYAMA

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, August 12 (game #892).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #893) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Coming in hot

NYT Strands today (game #893) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• CRIED
• SALE
• FORT
• BRAND
• ROVER
• EVENT

NYT Strands today (game #893) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 9 letters

NYT Strands today (game #893) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 1st row

• Last side: right, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #893) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #893, are…

• FIERCE
• HEATED
• TORRID
• INTENSE
• ZEALOUS
• SPANGRAM: FIREBRAND

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

I don’t think I have seen a game that featured so many non-game words, which is possibly why I found it so hard to find the words we were actually looking for.

This, though, is what hints are for, although it took me two before I understood that today’s game had nothing to do with heating and everything to do with attitude.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, August 12, game #892)

• GIVE
• DONATE
• ENDOW
• BESTOW
• CONTRIBUTE
• SPANGRAM: PHILANTHROPY

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• Ukraine found 5,816 foreign parts inside 202 Russian weapons systems
• Russia reportedly plans to manufacture 11,000 strike drones this month
• Ukraine says foreign technology supports several Russian missile and drone programs

Ukraine's military intelligence agency says it has identified 5,816 foreign-made components inside 202 Russian weapons systems as of early August 2026.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry, known as HUR, presented these findings after showing diplomats recovered missile and drone parts.

Officials say the recovered components came from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, strike drones and armored vehicles used across the battlefield today.

Foreign parts recovered from missiles and drones

Among the samples shown to Ukrainian diplomats was a Jetson Orin microcomputer manufactured by Nvidia, officials said.

That component was reportedly recovered from the wreckage of Russia's newer S-71M Monochrome cruise missile, intelligence officials said.

HUR also presented an inertial module containing parts manufactured by the US firm Texas Instruments and Japan's TDK Corporation, among others.

Dozens of additional foreign-made elements were reportedly found alongside these parts, though HUR did not name every single manufacturer involved.

Intelligence specialists further displayed a Geran-2 strike drone alongside components recovered from a Geran Seeker drone and the Banderol cruise missile.

“Showing and providing evidence of the use of foreign technologies in Russian weapons of terror is an important task in monitoring compliance with sanctions,” said officials at Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, HUR.

Sanctions evasion continues despite restrictions

Western sanctions targeting Russia's defense sector first emerged in 2014, after the European Union imposed an arms embargo following Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

That regime expanded dramatically after the Russia – Ukraine conflict started in February 2022, prompting a coordinated response from Western allies.

The US, the EU and the UK each imposed export bans covering dual-use electronics, computers, telecommunications gear and sensors.

These measures restricted semiconductors, microprocessors and navigation components capable of enhancing Russia's military and technological capacity on the battlefield.

Despite these restrictions, investigations show Russia continues obtaining Western components through transshipment networks routed via Hong Kong, mainland China and Turkey.

A recent investigation found nearly 800,000 shipments of restricted goods reached Russia between 2022 and 2024, worth close to $4 billion.

Some shipments reportedly passed through a single Hong Kong address before reaching Russian defense manufacturers linked to missile and drone production.

The EU sanctioned 60 additional third-country entities this year, many based in mainland China and Hong Kong, over such practices.

Analysts say weak coordination among allied sanctions regimes allows re-export networks to keep supplying Russia's defense industry despite years of restrictions.

These same supply routes are now reportedly feeding a sharp jump in Russia's planned drone output for the coming weeks.

Russia's military-industrial complex plans to manufacture roughly 11,000 strike drones this month, according to Ukrainian intelligence officials.

Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, told the outlet RBC-Ukraine that this month's output includes several Geran variants currently used along the front lines.

These reportedly include the Geran-1, Geran-2, Geran-3, Geran-4 and Geran-5 strike drones, all now entering serial production lines this year.

Harpy, Gerbera, Gerbera strike and Gerbera seeker variants are also reportedly included in this month's expanded production schedule, officials indicated.

HUR claims these drones make use of parts that typically originate in Europe, Asia and North America before reaching Russian factories through indirect supply routes.

Moscow reportedly relies on so-called gray-market schemes and third countries to obtain restricted technology despite ongoing international sanctions.

Kyiv is now using this finding to press allies for tighter export controls and stronger enforcement of existing sanctions regimes.

Via United24Media

The firm behind a $250 million Apple settlement is suing the company again, alleging it misrepresented a key security feature.

No more needles. Until the Google Pixel Watch 5 arrived as part of Google's Made by Google 2026 event, the only way most people could monitor their blood sugar's responses to food and exercise with smart tech was to use a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM. A small puck with a Bluetooth receiver inside and a spike to connect to your blood, it projects your blood sugar levels to your phone in real time.

Very useful — and originally developed — for diabetics, it was also quickly co-opted by the wellness sector and marketed as a way to curb blood sugar spikes. I attended a product launch for one of these devices in a fancy hotel, where a celebrity chef talked us through how to make healthy canapés that wouldn't spike our blood sugar, As proof, we could see our blood sugar broadcast to our phones in real time, monitored by the needles in our arms.

Too much sugar increases the body's insulin resistance, leading to fat storage, while exercise uses your body's glucose stores as fuel. Simple enough in theory, but I found the constant readings from the CGM easy to obsess over during my trial period, checking my graphs after every meal and mentally planning how much exercise would be needing to offset the effect of those spikes. I am not diabetic.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 is heralding in, as part of its passive-tracking Health Guardian suite of features, a non-invasive Insulin Resistance Trends feature for Pixel Watches 3 and above. According to Google: 'The tool uses passive sensors on your wrist to track monthly shifts in your metabolic health, reserving formal lab work for when you're at the doctor's office.

'The goal of this new feature is to help you take control of your health journey, serving as a gentle reminder to pause and check your routines,' continues Google's press release. 'When this Health Guardian feature detects sustained, elevated insulin resistance trends over the month, it alerts you with a gentle nudge to help you adjust your daily habits and get your metabolic health back in its sweet spot.'

(Image credit: Getty Images)

'Metabolic health' refers to the process of your body turning food into energy. A healthy body turns food and sugar into energy very effectively, while an unhealthy body works harder to mitigate those blood sugar spikes, leading to excess blood sugar being stored as fat rather than fuel. This results in weight gain and in some cases, Type-2 diabetes.

The feature isn't on watches yet (it'll arrive next month) and there's no indication of exactly how Google has been able to wrangle its optical LED sensors to manage this non-invasive Insulin Resistance Trends monitoring.

In its press materials, Google has been keen to emphasize that 40% of Americans are living with 'invisible shifts in their metabolic health'. The feature might help the US obesity crisis with a two-pronged assault; education about insulin resistance, and providing an accessible way to monitor this growing health problem without sticking a needle in your arm

However, just as I could see myself compulsively checking my blood sugar graphs, I worry that this might become yet another metric for otherwise-healthy smartwatch users to obsess over. Like weighing yourself every day or taking GLP-1s, weight management techniques can quickly transform from a healthy, positive thing into an addiction.

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Sergio Mak)

Research published in the Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal in 2020 has identified a trend we've seen before in health tech users: an obsession with metrics, streaks and optimization.

The researchers said that although wearables provide lots of actionable data and improve real-time surveillance of disease, they found "another aspect of the digital health revolution that has not yet received due attention: the unanticipated and potentially negative effects of wearable devices on patients’ psychological health, quality of life, and health care utilization."

Just recently, our writers Becca Caddy and Alex Blake wrote about their own experiences with this phenomenon, with Caddy stating "What I didn't understand at the time was how thin the line between discipline and obsession can be. You can cross it gradually, one habit and one goal at a time, until something that started as a genuine attempt to look after yourself becomes another source of pressure, anxiety and control."

The messaging around weight management can be difficult to get right, and as much as the feature is likely to improve wearer's health, I worry Insulin Resistance Trends could become quite a triggering metric for people at risk of disordered behaviors.

To Google's credit, however, the glimpse of the feature we've seen so far isn't a moment-to-moment graph. Instead, it shows month-to-month general trends, presumably to avoid people checking the feature too much. There's also a lot of good to be done around educating users about the relationship between blood sugar, insulin, weight gain, and diabetes.

Regardless, when the feature does arrive next month, I hope thought is put into its execution so we can have as many of the good consequences as possible, while avoiding the bad.

SpaceXAI says new AI agents can work alongside each other and even have their own AI manager.