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Severe storms are predicted to impact large areas of the United States through the weekend.

(Image credit: The National Weather Service)

• Google has updated NotebookLM once more
• It can now search the web and find sources for you
• It's easier than ever to create an AI podcast

Google has updated NotebookLM, its handy learning tool and AI podcast creator, so that it’s easier than ever to add sources. Now you can “search on the web” for sources of information that it turns into an AI podcast, mind map, or which it can answer questions about.

NotebookLM is designed to help you learn anything by breaking down large volumes of information into easily accessible reports and podcasts.

It doesn’t take a genius, however, to realize that its podcasts are so good they could easily replace real podcast hosts talking about literally any subject, and that’s where the new feature from Google leaves me in a bit of a moral quandary.

State your sources

Since I run a tai chi podcast I decided to try out the new feature by asking NotebookLM to see what sources it would find on the subject of tai chi, and I was quite surprised at the articles it found.

There were some academic articles on tai chi in there, as I'd expect, along with articles from various tai chi websites, but also a Reddit discussion offering various perspectives on tai chi’s spirituality, and a YouTube video.

NotebookLM takes all these sources and produces various media for you, including an Audio Overview (it’s basically a podcast) that takes a deep dive into your subject.

It made me ponder whether all those article writers and Reddit commentators were happy that I was using their thoughts as fuel for an AI-generated podcast.

Credit where it's due

It’s not like Google has added any new abilities to NotebookLM – you could always add any source you wanted – but at least you had to add it manually.

Making it actively scour the web to find a curated list of sources for you, without really asking the permission of any of these sources, then turning them into other types of media, does feel a little bit questionable.

If you are using NotebookLM purely as intended - i.e., to learn about a subject I don’t see a problem, but if those AI podcasts that are based on other people’s work, for example, get used in other ways, perhaps as income-generating podcasts, then that doesn’t always feel justified.

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Commentary: How else will you use the Joy-Cons' cool new mouse feature?

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured a glimpse of the asteroid that had a chance of impacting Earth three months ago.

• Businesses still haven't stopped using easily crackable passwords
• Germany, the US, and China suffer the most password breaches
• 123456, password, and qwerty are still being used in 2025

Many businesses are still using weak passwords that can be cracked in less than a second in the event of a brute force attack to secure their accounts, new research from one of the best password managers, NordPass, has found.

Passwords such as ‘123456’, ‘secret’, and even ‘password’ are being used by thousands of businesses across the world, resulting in easy picking for hackers.

The research also found Germany was top in the world for password breaches, with 582,067 incidents, closely followed by the US with 502,435, and China at 448,375.

The password is ‘password’

NordPass’ research used a 2.5 terabyte database compiled from numerous publicly available data sets, including some from the dark web that covered 11 industries.

For enterprise, the most common password in the database was ‘123456789’ with 378,182 uses, followed by the much easier to remember ‘123456’ with 356,341 uses, and just to round it all out ‘12345678’ comes in third with 145,688 uses.

Small and medium businesses don’t fare much better, with ‘123456’ topping the list for both with a total of 852,861 across both business sizes. Other classic passwords such as ‘qwerty123’, ‘abc123’, and ‘iloveyou’ also appear on the list, taking less than one second to crack.

Interestingly, the 28th most used password in NordPass’ dataset was ‘TimeLord12’, possibly suggesting that an IT worker with a love for Peter Capaldi’s work as the twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who was in charge of creating over 30,447 accounts that were later exposed.

NordPass also found many users who didn’t use the most common passwords would often use their own email address as their password, making it fairly easy for an attacker to crack their accounts. Names were also a common inclusion in the database, suggesting that employees were using their own names as a password.

(Image credit: Passwork)

If you’ve seen your password somewhere in this article or in NordPass’ research, it might be time to change it to something more secure, lest you be responsible for a breach.

In order to better protect corporate accounts, businesses should put in place password creation rules that make it harder to use simple passwords that can be easily cracked. NordPass also offers a business password manager tier to help businesses generate and store passwords securely.

Businesses should also implement two-factor authentication when signing in to accounts to help verify that the person accessing the account is a legitimate user, and not a crook with stolen credentials. Businesses can also switch over to using passkeys, which use secure authentication to log in without the need to remember complex passwords.

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• Google is going to let you transfer your passkeys to a new phone

The administration revealed how they calculated the tariffs. Buried in that math is a straightforward answer to a question Trump has long refused to answer: How much will his tariffs raise prices?

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski)

The department sent a letter to state leaders threatening the loss of funds for K-12 schools that don't follow its interpretation of civil rights laws.

(Image credit: Ben Curtis)

Remember last week, when Netflix added HDR10+ support in a move that looked like great news for Samsung TV owners? Well, I assumed that this would be an instant win for the best Samsung TVs across the board, but it seems that's not the case – and Samsung is surprisingly cagey about which of its existing TVs will see the benefit, and when.

Samsung released a statement saying that all of its 2025 TVs, including the Samsung S95F OLED TV, will support Netflix's HDR10+ implementation, as will its 2024 and 2025 HDR computer monitors – but no one owns the 2025 TVs yet, so what about current TVs?

Samsung says there will be "support for additional models in the future", but hasn't offered any further information so far. I've asked Samsung if it's able to share any more specific information for users of these TVs, and will update if I hear back.

My guess is that Samsung will actually bring support fairly broadly, and fairly quickly – but this cagey announcement feels like dropping the ball just seconds away from a touchdown.

The Samsung S95D, our TV of the Year 2024, may or may not get Netflix's HDR10+ support… (Image credit: Future)

HDR10+ is a more advanced kind of HDR, with scene-by-scene metadata, like Dolby Vision. In theory, it can help TVs better 'tone map' the levels of HDR brightness onto the capabilities of the TV's screen, meaning more detail is retained in the brightest and darkest areas of the image, even if your TV isn't great at going especially bright or dark.

Samsung's TVs support HDR10+, and don't support Dolby Vision – it's the only maker of the best TVs that has rejected Dolby's HDR format. And this has been a frustration, because Dolby Vision HDR is the advanced format used by most of the best streaming services.

The lack of Dolby Vision is the big complaint we hear from people when we post about Samsung TVs, and having HDR10+ support on the biggest streamers (Prime Video also supports it) helps mitigate that – so I would've expected Samsung to embrace this instantly. In fact, I just assumed Samsung would have everything prepped in advance for it, given how tied the company is to HDR10+ as a format.

But that's been changing over time, and Netflix supporting HDR10+ felt like a key shift to offer all Samsung TVs an instant boost… but only once Samsung supports it.

When Samsung confirms that it's supporting the Netflix update on more TVs, we'll let you know straight away, Samsung TV owners.

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Massad Boulos, Trumps new Senior Advisor for Africa and father-in-law to daughter Tiffany Trump, kicks starts his first official trip on the continent, with a visit to the mineral rich and war wracked Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Image credit: Jeenah Moon)

VistaPrint photo book review

VistaPrint offers eight photo book sizes in square, portrait, and landscape formats, which range in size from 13 x 10cm (5.1 x 3.9 inches) to 39 x 29cm (15.4 x 11.4 inches). You can have up to 120 pages in a single photo book, although you’ll have to pay £1.50 extra for every two pages beyond 24. Layflat binding is also available on selected sizes for an extra £1.50 per page, and two stocks are available to choose from: Standard and Premium Glossy, the latter of which costs £10.50 more. A photo cover costs an additional £6.50.

The editor for creating a VistaPrint photo book is available both online in a browser and offline as an app for Windows or macOS systems. Books can be created from scratch or using VistaPrint’s Smart Assistant, which judges your best photos from those you’ve uploaded and automatically sets the layout, while still letting you edit as you wish.

(Image credit: Future)

Navigating the editor is easy thanks to its clear interface and toolbars for easy access to common elements. I created a book from scratch, although, annoyingly, VistaPrint still thrusts a preset layout upon you, which adds to the labor as you delete the blocks you don’t want.

On the other hand, if you need some inspiration, a menu of template layouts is available for instant insertion, with options containing various combinations of image and text blocks.

Inserting photos is simply a case of inserting image blocks and adding your photos, which can be done in three ways: uploading them in bulk and selecting them from a menu, clicking on a block to bring up a file explorer, or dragging and dropping the file from your computer.

(Image credit: Future)

You can then drag the corners and sides to resize your photos as you see fit. However, you’ll be disappointed if you want exact measurements, as there aren’t any, so you’ll have to rely on your eye. Thankfully, moving boxes can be made using the arrow keys, which certainly helps with fine-tuning layouts.

Other common keyboard shortcuts also work in the editor, such as those for copying, pasting, and undoing. However, you can’t select multiple blocks with Ctrl- or Shift-clicks, which is a shame.

Snap lines for horizontal and vertical centers are present, although somewhat frustratingly, they don’t always appear. For instance, I didn’t get a vertical center line when trying to align an image block on the back cover. However, both horizontal and vertical snap lines also appear when lining up a block with another, which is very useful.

(Image credit: Future)

When you click on an inserted photo, a popup menu appears with a slider that lets you zoom in and out of the image within its box. You can also drag the image around within the box, allowing you to effectively crop photos with ease.

This menu also has options for moving your image to the front or to the back relative to other boxes, as well as rotate and flip functions. There’s also a filter menu with Black & White and Sepia effects to choose from.

There’s also an Auto Enhancement feature, but there’s no explanation as to how this actually works. As far as I could tell, it makes images brighter, which works well in some cases, but can lead to overexposure and oversaturation in others. More annoyingly, I couldn’t find a way to turn it off permanently; the best I could do was click the delete enhancement button in the top toolbar, but I had to do this every time I inserted a new photo, which was mildly irritating.

(Image credit: Future)

Different background colors are available should you want them, but the options are limited since there’s no color wheel or hex code input for inserting any shade you like.

There are far more framing and masking options, ranging from basic looks to more ostentatious offerings. Various clip art stickers are available too. As for text, VistaPrint offers a good number of fonts to choose from as well, along with the usual point sizes, colors, and basic formatting options.

(Image credit: Future)

There are a few snags with the editor that are worth pointing out. Firstly, I couldn’t find a way to remove a frame or mask once inserted, which was frustrating and meant I had to delete the block entirely to eliminate it. I also couldn’t scale our TechRadar logo small enough to fit along the spine, despite being able to fit text here.

Other issues include black backgrounds obscuring the margin lines of the spine, and smaller images appearing with strange artifacts, which thankfully remedies itself once you zoom in, so it seems this is merely a GUI issue.

Popups occasionally appear reminding you to save your work, although an autosave feature wouldn’t have gone amiss. Saving is usually quite quick, although it was somewhat sluggish when returning to a saved session.

(Image credit: Future)

I also had a popup stating that photos were taking longer to load than usual when starting a new session, recommending I wait before making further changes to the book. Thankfully, this was only a momentary issue.

The projected delivery date for my order of a XL Square (30 x 30cm / 12 x 12 inch) photo book was two weeks, and unfortunately, unlike other services, there’s no expedited option for quicker turnarounds.

Such photo books cost £49.99. I was lucky to catch VistaPrint in a sale, so claimed a 40% discount, bringing my order to £35.69, which included a photo cover and a few extra pages beyond the default 24. Delivery cost an extra £5.50, bringing my overall total to £41.19, although orders over £40 have free delivery.

(Image credit: Future)

The book arrived about four days earlier than estimated, which was a pleasant surprise. However, unfortunately there was some damage to the top of the spine and consequently the inside corners of nearly every page, as if it had been crushed from the top.

This wasn’t exactly surprising given how thin the cardboard sleeve was, with no bubble wrap or protective padding of any kind around the book. Thankfully, the damage was subtle, and much of it was hidden from view by the curve of the pages towards the binding.

The printing quality was excellent, though. Images were sharp with no blurring or artifacts. Colors were rendered with plenty of accuracy and vibrancy, which was especially noticeable on full-page spreads, making them a real highlight of the book.

However, some images and text had a slightly jagged edge to them, as did the solid blocks of color, which also contained a few outlines in a darker shade. There were also a few stray dots of color on white backgrounds, but these were infrequent and hard to notice owing to their minute size.

On the whole, though, the VistaPrint photo book delivers pleasing results, especially for those looking to showcase larger photos. Combined with its capable and intuitive editor, this is a service worthy of your attention.

Should I buy the VistaPrint photo book? Buy it if…

You want an easy editor to use
For the most part, the editor is clear and simple, and various standard keyboard shortcuts can be used to make things even easier.

You want a good price
VistaPrint’s photo books are good value for money, undercutting many of its rivals, and by a considerable amount in some cases.

Don't buy it if…

You want precision and color options
Unfortunately, VistaPrint’s photo book editor provides no photo measurements nor a color wheel or hex code input for backgrounds and solid blocks of color.

You want a quick turnaround
Two weeks is the fastest delivery time VistaPrint provides, which is a shame since there are quicker services out there (I did receive mine earlier than expected, though).

VistaPrint photo book review: also consider

Shutterfly
If you’re looking for precise control over photo resizing, then Shutterfly could be for you. It displays image dimensions in inches, which is very useful for those with specific layout requirements. The options for tailoring templates are limited, and we didn’t find its editor the easiest to use, but it’s still competent enough. Read our Shutterfly photo book review.

Mimeo
Mimeo offers another simple and easy to use photo book creator, which we found helped to offset its rather limited design and material choices compared to the competition. We also thought the shipping costs were too steep, but if you prize a great user experience and a high-quality end product, this could be the service for you. Read our Mimeo photo book review.

How I tested the VistaPrint photo book

• Made and ordered photo book
• Followed TechRadar's photo book template

I used VistaPrint’s online editor to order a 12 x 12 inch (30 x 30cm) XL Square photo book with 28 pages, following our TechRadar template, which includes a variety of photos, containing both people and landscape, with varying colors palettes and exposure levels, as well as some black and white images.

Our template also contains various page layouts, in order to test the versatility of the service in question, both in terms of its editing capabilities and the final result.

• First reviewed: March 2025
• Read more about how we test

Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.

(Image credit: Keith Necaise)

Travel back in time with X-Arcade's Arcade2TV-XR physical arcade controller for virtual reality in this retro blast from the past that includes games like Pinball FX VR and Arcade Ranger.

The Department of Education said it is inviting public feedback on ways to improve these programs.

Operating system support: Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CloudLinux, Virtuozzo Linux, Windows.

Portability to different platforms

Plesk has been around for a long time and is supported by many hosts. You also have the option to migrate to cPanel should you decide that Plesk isn’t for you. Plesk also supports a wide array of Linux and Windows operating systems, so you have a lot of options for installing it on various server setups.

Plesk has a straightforward and fair pricing model - you pay for how many websites you use. This makes it great for average web hosters who need the flexibility of Plesk and don’t plan on hosting tons of websites. It is also a good choice for web agencies who plan on hosting websites on behalf of their clients and want predictable pricing. If you plan on hosting lots of websites all for your own use, then cPanel or sPanel offer cheaper plans.

Ease of use

Plesk has the most cohesive user interface of all the admin panels, combining the server-side administration into the same user interface as the website management interface. This has benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, it’s nice to have the server management presented in a manner that is friendly to non-technical users, but at the same time, it feels a little frustrating to use if you are technical. There’s considerably less of the underlying technical details exposed to users, which is great if you’re worried about breaking things, but if you’re a tinkerer, then you might prefer the more raw experience that cPanel provides. Plesk not only works great on mobiles but even provides a dedicated mobile app so you can manage your websites on the go.

Support Web server support

It supports a wide array of different web servers and languages. Apache is installed by default, with the option to install Nginx as a reverse proxy, which gives you the best of both worlds. Litespeed is supported, but there’s no support for the free alternative, OpenLitespeed, so expect additional costs.

Database support

Microsoft SQL, MySQL, and PostgreSQL are all supported, making Plesk a great choice for those who need more powerful database options.

Language support

Support programming languages include PHP, Javascript/Node, Perl, Ruby, Python, .NET. There’s even docker support via an official extension, which means effortless support for virtually any language and setup.

Backups

Plesk offers a pretty standard array of backup options with good support for remote backup providers. FTP, Amazon S3, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive are all supported.

Extensions and apps

Plesk has the most impressive extensibility out of any of the admin panels we’ve tried. Along with the usual one-click installers such as Softacolous, you can also install extensions to manage your social media, page speed, harden your WordPress installations - it really does have it all. There’s even a pretty powerful site builder included, meaning you can build your website with zero coding knowledge.

Security

Not only does Plesk come with the usual security software, but it also goes the extra mile to make them more user-friendly. We particularly like how user-friendly the web application firewall is, providing an extra layer of security against malicious requests without overly complicating it. Plesk includes both VirusTotal and Imunify for virus scans with an option for paid upgrades. Kernelcare and other paid security hardening services are available.

Final verdict

Plesk is truly leading the way with the admin panel. It has remained fresh and up-to-date, offering a lot of the latest and greatest software. Everything is easy to use and packaged in a way that isn’t intimidating to non-technical users. It would be nice to see better out-of-the-box performance optimisation, something that sPanel really excels at, but Plesk offers a more broad set of capabilities. It does an incredible job of being both extremely powerful and customisable, without being overwhelming for non-technical users. The bottom line is that if you want an admin panel that does everything and packages it up nicely into a very user-friendly package, then it might be worth splashing a bit more on Plesk.

• JetKVM is a tiny KVM over IP product for full remote control of any computer
• It raised over $4 million in crowdfunding from more than 30,000 backers
• Device includes USB-C, Ethernet, HDMI Mini and RJ11 extension for add-ons

Plenty of crowdfunded campaigns fail to draw enough pledges to turn a project into reality, but that isn’t the case with JetKVM, a $69 next-generation open source KVM over IP device that can control any computer remotely.

It was successfully funded on Kickstarter on December 3, 2024, smashing its $50,000 goal with a whopping $4,370,767 in pledges from an impressive 31,598 backers.

Although the campaign has now ended, you can still become a late backer, and the good news is, you shouldn’t have long to wait to receive the product, as JetKVM is expected to begin shipping in April 2025.

Rare RJ11 extension port

The small hardware device gives you full remote access to a computer’s screen, keyboard, and mouse, just like a physical KVM switch, but over the internet.

It connects to the target machine’s HDMI port to capture video, and to a USB port to emulate input devices. Once set up, you can control the machine from anywhere using a web browser. This is especially useful for headless systems, unresponsive machines, or remote BIOS access.

The device runs a Linux system based on Buildroot, powered by a RockChip RV1106G3 (ARM Cortex-A7, 1.0GHz) with built-in H.264 and H.265 encoding. It includes 256MB of DDR3L RAM, 16GB of eMMC storage, Ethernet, USB-C, HDMI Mini, and a unique RJ11 extension port.

The creators say JetKVM streams 1080p video at 60FPS with 30–60ms latency. Remote access is handled via JetKVM Cloud using WebRTC for encrypted peer-to-peer connections. A 1.69-inch touchscreen shows status and local controls, and the software, written in Go, is fully open source and modifiable via SSH.

Power can be supplied via USB-C, RJ11, or pin header. The RJ11 port, which we're big fans of, supports hardware extensions like sensors, ATX power control, or serial console access.

Even though JetKVM has been successfully financed, and then some, we’d be remiss if we didn’t offer our customary crowdfunding warning: delays happen, features can change, and delivery isn’t always guaranteed, so please bear that in mind.

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It still comes down to money.

Although most abortions remain illegal in Alabama, the decision allows doctors and advocacy groups to tell patients about abortion options in other states, and help with travel and other costs

(Image credit: Butch Dill)

In June 2024, the Biden administration announced that the download, update, licensing and resale of Kaspersky software would be banned from July 20 2024.

The justification was that because Kaspersky is headquartered in Moscow, the Russian government could force the company to hand over access to its systems and disrupt all of the computers it is installed on.

Kaspersky has frequently denied having any connection to the Russian government, but the US has determined that that simply isn't good enough.

Bitdefender Total Security is a top-notch security suite that offers comprehensive protection against various online threats for all your devices (Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS).View Deal

What does it mean for me?

Kaspersky has been a household name for antivirus in the US, with a pre-ban market share of around 35%.

After the ban Kaspersky offloaded its customers the Pango Group, which promptly installed UltraAV as a replacement service which caused quite a stir.

If you were using Kaspersky antivirus, you will have been asked if you wanted to switch to UltraAV. However, none of the major antivirus testing labs have released any scores for UltraAV, and customer feedback and online postings suggest that the software is less than ideal.

Those who chose to forgo the UltraAV update will have been left to continue using Kaspersky - and if that includes you - your device is at serious risk.

Am I at risk if I keep using Kaspersky?

Yes. The ban prohibited new updates for the Kaspersky software, meaning that the software won't be able to protect against any new malware or threats that have emerged since the ban in June 2024.

Antivirus providers release frequent updates to their software to keep your device protected from existing malware, as well as '0-day' exploits or fresh vulnerabilities that are being actively exploited. Without these updates, devices can succumb to infection and attacks that other devices would be protected against.

As an additional point of concern, if you used Kaspersky on a Windows device it is likely that Windows Defender Antivirus was put into passive mode, preventing it from offering its full level of protection. If you were using Kaspersky, or still are, I would highly recommend checking to see if your Windows Defender Antivirus is still in passive mode, and switch it to active.

What should I do?

First things first, check to see if your device manufacturers default antivirus is updated and turned on.

Now that you have some level of protection, have a think about if you consider default protection enough.

For many devices, the default antivirus program will offer a fairly decent level of protection against malware, but will lack a lot of the other security tools that have almost become a necessity in the digital world.

Take a look at my comprehensive guide to the best antivirus, and have a look through the features you think would be best for you.

Many services include a VPN to help encrypt your internet traffic at is heads from your device to its destination, preventing crooks from intercepting it in transit.

Others will have a parental control app that will help you block adult content from being viewed on your children's devices, as well as setting screen-time limits to help them focus on their homework or chores.

Password managers are also a very handy tool to help keep your online accounts secure. If you don't use an authenticator app, you account is only as secure as your password. Antivirus alone won't stop a hacker from guessing your username and password.

Do I need to bother with antivirus in 2025?

As a security expert, my answer is 100% yes. I've seen first hand how quickly new threats and vulnerabilities can emerge, and the damage they can have not only on devices but also livelihoods.

If an attacker gains access to your computer files, they can potentially steal sensitive files and data that can help them commit identity theft or credit fraud. Even if you don't want to splash out on a premium service, you can always turn to the best free antivirus to provide a good level of protection to all your devices.

• Read more: How to choose the best antivirus for you

The Trump Administration is reportedly changing rules to the $42.5 billion BEAD Program to favor Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The global tariffs Trump announced this week include remote territories like Heard and McDonald Islands in the Indian Ocean that don't actually have human populations. Here's what to know about them.

(Image credit: Matt Curnock)