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QAnon followers played an outsized role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. While the online conspiracy community is less prominent now, it still draws attention from GOP politicians.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

• 800,000 VW Group models affected in breach, 300,000 of which from Germany
• More than half were sharing precise GPS location data
• Volkswagen responded promptly and responsible

Cariad, a subsidiary of Volkswagen’s automotive software reportedly left the sensitive data of 800,000 electric vehicles exposed in an unsecured Amazon cloud storage folder, reports have claimed.

The concern comes after Nadja Weippert, Mayor of Tostedt, Lower Saxony, delved into the app she was required to download to use the remote functionality of her Volkswagen ID.3.

She found that it was collecting precise geolocation data every time the car was turned off, creating a detailed picture of where she had been.

VW collecting customer data insecurely

The vulnerability was first discovered by a European ethical hacking organization, Chaos Computer Club (CCC), which was informed by a whistleblower. CCC confirmed the issue on November 26 and notified Cariad, giving the company 30 days to make the data inaccessible.

Cariad acknowledged the issue stemmed from poor configurations in two IT applications, responding within just hours and thanking the CCC for its work. CCC spokesman Linus Neumann praised VW’s software firm (via Spiegel, translated with Google Translate): "The Cariad technical team responded quickly, thoroughly and responsibly.”

German publication Spiegel revealed that more than half of the vehicles (460,000) were sharing precise GPS data. Most of the 800,000 affected models were located in Germany (300,000), with Norway, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria also being home to tens of thousands of affected electric vehicles.

Because Volkswagen is the parent company of other popular European brands, Audi, SEAT and Skoda models were also reportedly affected. It’s unclear whether CUPRA, Porsche and VW Group’s other subsidiaries were also affected.

Spiegel called the blunder a disgrace, noting that Volkswagen is already lagging behind rivals in the software space.

Despite VW’s unfortunate mistake close to a decade after the automotive giant was caught lying about the emissions of many of its diesel cars, it’s not the only company collecting customer data. In September 2023, we covered Mozilla research revealing that 25 major car manufacturers were collecting more data than they needed.

As the boundaries between tech and cars draw ever nearer, customers and researchers are rightly raising more and more security concerns.

You might also like

• We’ve listed the best privacy tools and anonymous browsers
• Skoda security flaws could let hackers remotely track cars
• Check out our choice of the best antivirus software

I’ve been a PC gamer for basically my entire life. Even as a young kid on my dad’s boxy beige work computer, I spent hours playing the only game it had installed: Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition. I loved the glorious Flash era of browser games, and bought plenty of magazines purely for the demo disks.

Growing up, I had my dalliances with console gaming, but once I got my first gaming laptop as a teen, we were back in familiar territory. It wasn’t long before I built my first gaming PC, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I never thought I’d abandon my trusty gaming desktop - perhaps the fourth or fifth PC I’ve built purely for myself over the years, discounting the literal dozens I built while working at Maximum PC magazine - and yet nowadays, I find myself using it less and less for gaming. I used to spend hours seated at my desk grinding away in my live-service game du jour, yet now I mostly just sit in that chair to write articles like this one. The reason for that? I got myself an Asus ROG Ally.

The handheld revolution

PC gaming handhelds have been floating around for a while in early forms, but it wasn’t until Valve released their successful and popular Steam Deck handheld that interest really started to pick up. It wasn’t long before other manufacturers wanted to muscle in on the scene; Asus was the first major rival to Valve with its ROG Ally (and the new ROG Ally X), then more started to appear: the MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, and most recently the Zotac Zone all deliver quality handheld gaming experiences beating anything in the existing console space.

I do love my Switch, but it's just not the same as having a PC I can play in bed. (Image credit: Shutterstock/Wachiwit)

I’m not ragging on consoles here; I have a Nintendo Switch, and it was thanks to that (and a second Switch for my fiancé, and two copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons) that I made it through both lockdown and cancer treatment in one piece. I’ve owned every Game Boy, and I was one of the eight people who actually bought a PS Vita back in 2011 - a horribly misunderstood handheld, by the way.

But the ROG Ally is a different beast entirely; my huge game libraries across Steam, Epic, GOG, and more mean that I can enjoy a vast variety of games, with better graphics than anything offered by the Switch. Plus, as a fan of indie games, I get the added bonus of getting to play all the great stuff on Itch.io, the majority of which isn’t available on consoles.

What makes PC handhelds so great?

My love for the ROG Ally has grown so much that I’ve taken to actively recommending it and its ilk - forsaking my usual advice about gaming laptops and PC-building. The first reason, quite simply, is pricing. The ROG Ally can routinely be picked up for around $400 / £400 if you keep an eye on sales - and frankly, good luck finding a gaming laptop capable of offering the same performance for that price, even during sale events.

Speaking of performance: the Z1 Extreme APU chip inside the ROG Ally and some other handhelds performs great, offering strong 1080p gaming performance. Sure, you’ll likely need to tone down the graphics in some more demanding games to hit that coveted 60 frames per second, but the performance for such a compact device is truly excellent and would’ve been unprecedented just a few years ago.

Valve's Steam Deck is a cool handheld, but in terms of raw performance it doesn't quite measure up to many other models on the market right now. (Image credit: Unsplash)

And of course, it’s that compact nature that makes the Ally so much more appealing to me than a desktop PC or a chunky gaming laptop. I sit at my desk all day long; why would I continue to sit there during my free time after work, when I could take my handheld and go lounge on the couch while playing the exact same games? It’s a benefit you don’t notice until you have the option. During a recent storm here in the UK, I stayed warm and cozy in bed with a hot water bottle and the rather excellent Afterparty, and it was great. Although the Ally is a bit heavy, it’s comfortable design and sturdy thumbsticks are a lot easier on my hands than a mouse and keyboard.

So yes: I’m done with gaming laptops, and while I’m not about to toss my powerhouse desktop in the garbage anytime soon, I’m certainly putting a lot less mileage on it now. That’s probably good for my electricity bill too, now that I think about it - the RTX 4080 sure is a power hog.

Anti-algorithm tactics and human moderators need to keep the web honest.

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NPR's member and affiliate station photographers share memorable moments from throughout 2024.

(Image credit: Brian Munoz)

These days, my life is full of technology. Depending on the trip, I have my iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad Mini, MacBook Pro, my wife's iPhone, Kindle, kids' tablets, and a smart power station or two. That's a lot of internet-connected gear when on the go. Not only is it annoying to have to put in a new password for whatever location you are at, but it's also incredibly insecure.

Over the last few years, I have stopped connecting to public Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi, which is not secure altogether. I'll frequently tether to my iPhone if I am just on one device. But, when I start pulling out multiple devices or if my iPhone cell service isn't excellent (I'm looking at you, Verizon), I look for a strong and probably ok public Wi-Fi and connect to it, but not with my devices, with my portable router. I do this, plus a VPN to help ensure that my information stays my information, and this little travel router is how I do it.

Can this tiny travel router compare with the best Wi-Fi routers out there? I put the pocket-sized TP-Link TL-WR1502X Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router to the test.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router: Price and Availability

The TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel router is available all over the place. You can find it on the TP-Links website, Amazon, or other retailers. When writing this sentence, the price is $60 for a single unit.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router: Unboxing and First Impressions

When I opened the box for this router, I immediately noticed how simple everything was. This router seemed too small and too basic-looking to be able to do everything that it was doing. It's lightweight, with a sleek and durable build. The router, a power adapter, a USB-C cable, a quick start guide, and a simple ethernet cable came in the box.

The compact design is easy enough to tuck in any bag, pocket, or jacket. The unit as a whole can fit in the palm of my hand. Right now, I carry it with me daily in my backpack. And I'm particular about what I am willing to put in my backpack, so that's a big deal for me to tuck it away. I love the matte black finish and the built-in ventilation, as it helps keep the device from overheating.

Lastly, the port offering is impressive for a small unit, and the ports are placed great on the device, making it easy to use and work with.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router: Design and Build Quality Specs

Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
Speeds: Up to 1.5Gbps
Ports: 2x Ethernet, 1ssx USB-C for tethering/power, 1x fUSB-A
Features: VPN support, WPA3 security, USB tethering

As I have mentioned, this device is incredibly portable. Still, it's also quite sturdy, making it a great travel companion because I don't have to worry about it breaking on me. I've had this in my everyday carry backpack that goes everywhere with me for the last few months, and I have not had any issues with this getting damaged or slowing down. It keeps working and working great every time.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router: In use

So far, I have gotten a lot of use out of this little travel router. I've had it with me for a few months now and am thrilled to have it. The older I get, and as time goes on, the more and more paranoid I get about my physical and digital security. In the digital world, one of the things I have sworn not to do anymore is to connect to networks that I do not know or do not manage myself. However, sometimes that is the only option. That's where my travel router comes into play for one of the many use cases I have it for. I can quickly flip a switch and connect to that coffee shop, VRBO, airport, or even airplane Wi-Fi with my router, throw a VPN on, and then connect with my devices. My work and sensitive information, like bank cards and sensitive documents, are accessible through my Macbook. It would be wild for me not to protect it.

Another way that I have been using my travel router is to connect non-apple devices to my iPhone hotspot or direct USB tether. Most of what I have with me on any given day is Apple; however, for the times that I am testing a different laptop, if I have the Nintendo Switch with me, a portable projector if the kids have a gadget or something like that, this makes it super easy to have specific travel Wi-Fi saved on their devices that they can connect to that isn't just always my phone.

I have noticed smooth and fast connections when using the Wi-Fi, even from a decent distance away. For example, we stayed at a VRBO rental a few weeks back. I did not want to connect to the provided Wi-Fi, so I connected the ethernet cables to my TP-Link Travel router and ran that as a main router for a week. It worked great across the entire home, with all my devices connected. It handled (up to) five iPhones, two MacBooks, eight iPads, two Apple Watches, and a sound machine/night light, all without skipping a beat.

The only gripe I have with this router is that it takes a minute to boot up, so if I am in a hurry, it can be frustrating to wait for it to boot up and get working. However, if that's my only frustration, that makes for a pretty incredible device.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router: Final verdict

The TP-Link AX1500 Wi-Fi 6 Travel RoutWi-Filivers top-tier performance in a travel-friendly package. With its fast speeds, modern security, and versatile features like VPN and USB tethering, it's a must-have for anyone needing reliable internet access wherever they go. While it's priced slightly higher than some competitors, its advanced functionality justifies the investment for frequent travelers or remote workers.

For more connectivity tools, we reviewed the best mesh Wi-Fi systems

$300 is a sweet spot for buying a phone. You get a ton of features without too many compromises. Phones like Moto G Power 5G (2024), have Google Pay, wireless charging and fun designs.

• Researchers create a form of carbon with an incredible surface area
• This could allow the material to trap more substance including various chemicals
• Hypergolics are widely use in jet propulsion

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a nanoporous carbon material with the highest surface area ever reported.

The breakthrough uses a chemical reaction akin to rocket fuel ignition and could be used to improve carbon-dioxide capture and energy storage technologies, potentially advancing the next generation of batteries.

Increasing the porosity of carbon is key to enhancing its performance in applications such as pollutant adsorption (where pollutants stick to the surface of the material) and energy storage. The new material boasts a surface area of 4,800 square meters per gram - comparable to the size of an American football field, or 11 basketball courts, condensed into a single teaspoon.

A bright future for batteries

“Having more surface per mass is very important, but you can get to a point where there is no material left. It’s just air,” said senior author Emmanuel Giannelis from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, in Cornell Engineering. “So the challenge is how much of that porosity you can introduce and still have structure left behind, along with enough yield to do something practical with it.”

Giannelis collaborated with postdoctoral researcher Nikolaos Chalmpes, who adapted hypergolic reactions - high-energy chemical reactions typically used in rocket propulsion - to synthesize this carbon.

Chalmpes explained that by fine-tuning the process, they were able to achieve ultra-high porosity. Previously, such reactions were used solely in aerospace applications, but their rapid and intense nature proved ideal for creating novel nanostructures.

The process, detailed in ACS Nano, starts with sucrose and a template material, which guides the formation of the carbon structure. When combined with specific chemicals, the hypergolic reaction produces carbon tubes containing highly reactive five-membered molecular rings. A subsequent treatment with potassium hydroxide removes less stable structures, leaving behind a network of microscopic pores.

The researchers say the material adsorbs carbon dioxide nearly twice as effectively as conventional activated carbons, achieving 99% of its total capacity in under two minutes. It also demonstrated a volumetric energy density of 60 watt-hours per liter - four times that of commercial alternatives. This makes it particularly promising for batteries and small power cells, where efficient energy storage in compact spaces is critical, and opens pathways for designing electrocatalysts and nanoparticle alloys.

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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 30.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 98 for Monday, Dec. 30.

Here are some hints -- and the answers -- for Connections No. 568 for Dec. 30.

Here are some hints -- and the answer -- for Wordle No. 1,290 for Dec. 30.

Here are some hints -- and the answers -- for the Dec. 30 Strands puzzle, No. 302.

Make sure your earbuds aren't going anywhere with the best sports earbuds with ear hooks.

Carter helped make ties between Washington and Beijing, ushering in an era of engagement that brought China out of isolation and underpinned its meteoric economic rise.

(Image credit: Jimmy Carter Library)

This latest incident comes as 2024 is named the deadliest year on record for small boat crossings along the perilous migration route.

(Image credit: Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

Find the cheapest and fastest internet providers for residential customers in San Diego.

I've only become a regular user of YouTube relatively recently.

The video platform, which first launched in 2005, wasn't something I spent much time with for its first decade of existence. I'd heard how it got bought by Google, and how it was something that was popular with kids.

I watched parents stick a tablet in their kids hands at the mall or at the airport and let them watch whatever kids watch on YouTube (a whole other discussion for another time), and heard about the first YouTube influencers who started making real money on the platform. But, it was the aughts and early 2010s, and there was a lot of that going around, so it was just background noise for the most part.

It wasn't until my first computer science courses in 2015 that I first started using the platform with any kind of regularity, almost entirely for programming tutorials to help me navigate C++ memory allocation, or how to program a game in Unreal Engine.

Back then, I was a free user, and you know the adage: if you aren't paying for a product, you are the product. The ads weren't too bad at first, but once YouTube got a sense of who I was (a thirty-something male living in the US with an interest in computers), that quickly changed.

YouTube ads are some of the worst I've ever seen

(Image credit: Future/YouTube)

If you know, you know. The kinds of targeted ads my demographic gets can be laughably bad at best, and downright offensive and maddening at worse (I'm looking at you Evony: The King's Return).

For close to a decade as a casual YouTube user, it never occured to me to pay for a premium subscription. After all, ads are the price you pay for free media and always has been. They're annoying, sure, but without ads, that media you're consuming can't exist without you paying for it.

But, boy howdy, there's only so many misogynistic mobile game ads you can watch on repeat before you break. At the start of 2024, I started watching various artisan crafting videos far more regularly than even my computer science and programming content.

Initially, this was just a form of white noise that I used when I was working or testing out computer hardware on a testbench in our NYC office, but soon, I found there was a certain meditative quality to watching someone make a Damascus steel kitchen knife without commentary, or using shop tools and a lathe to carve out a stunning wooden vase.

As you can imagine, my algorithm was now truly, properly wrecked, and the targeted ads I got weren't for normal things like, I don't know, woodworking tools or maybe shop equipment. Hell, try and sell me some Carhart outerwear, and I just might buy it.

No, my demo as a middle-aged man fully identified, my meditative background watches of a bunch of dudes quietly putting together a deck in their backyard was interrupted every few minutes by ads for mobile games that look like it was put together by the absolute worst people on 4chan.

I won't detail what exactly was so bad about these ads (leaving aside the fact that none of the gameplay shown is ever what you'd get if you played these cash-grab, social city builders that are microtransactioned to the hilt). But for a lot of you out there, you know exactly the kind of gross, juvenile BS I'm talking about. If you don't, count yourself lucky.

YouTube Premium saved my sanity

(Image credit: Shutterstock / JRdes)

I don't know how exactly I came across YouTube Premium, but I do remember the only thing I saw was that it meant ad-free viewing of all YouTube content.

I signed up for YouTube Premium on the spot, and I haven't looked back ever since. I don't even know what other features come with the subscription. I don't really care.

Before I get bombarded with emails, yes, I know there are ad blockers out there, but I won't use them. Monetization for YouTube creators is a complicated thing, but blocking ads doesn't help them keep doing what they do, and an ad blocker can always be disabled, or introduce security vulnerabilities into your browser, and on, and on.

Here's the thing. We've all probably got more streaming subscriptions than we ever really use. So, if you're like me and you spend a lot of time on YouTube, consider switching one of those out for YouTube Premium. You'll save yourself a lot of hassle, headache, and sanity in the process.

Many of the most-borrowed books in 2024, including 'romantasy' titles and memoirs, also appeared on public library lists in 2023.

(Image credit: Magali Cohen)

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 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 #1071) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* 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 #1071) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1071) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1071) - 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 2.

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 #1071) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• T

• G

• G

• V

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

Quordle today (game #1071) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1071, are…

• TODDY
• GROIN
• GROWN
• VERVE

I guessed close to the edge today, completing the four words in my 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th goes – although I was helped considerably by GROIN and GROWN having just one letter difference. How kind of Quordle.

TODDY was today’s seasonal word, although I was interested in Merriam-Webster telling me that it isn’t just a hot drink consisting of liquor, water, sugar, and spices but also the fresh or fermented sap of various chiefly Asian palms.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #1071) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1071, are…

• MOUND
• ODDER
• TOXIN
• TWEET

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1070, Sunday 29 December: PURER, SPLAT, RABID, EMCEE
• Quordle #1069, Saturday 28 December: BUNCH, LABOR, TRIPE, BUNNY
• Quordle #1068, Friday 27 December: BRAWL, LYING, ORGAN, CRONY
• Quordle #1067, Thursday 26 December: TATTY, OVERT, FLOUR, SWEPT
• Quordle #1066, Wednesday 25 December: LIVER, CRIER, SHORE, MURKY
• Quordle #1065, Tuesday 24 December: TIPSY, SCALE, FLYER, VALVE
• Quordle #1064, Monday 23 December: SNAKE, SAVVY, ELBOW, TWEED
• Quordle #1063, Sunday 22 December: DOUBT, SLURP, PAPER, CIVIL
• Quordle #1062, Saturday 21 December: STRIP, BUDGE, SAPPY, SHELF
• Quordle #1061, Friday 20 December: PENAL, EAGLE, DILLY, QUITE
• Quordle #1060, Thursday 19 December: JEWEL, GNOME, TRAMP, IDLER
• Quordle #1059, Wednesday 18 December: LITHE, BIRTH, HUMID, ROBOT
• Quordle #1058, Tuesday 17 December: DOING, ENJOY, SNAKY, AMPLE
• Quordle #1057, Monday 16 December: HYDRO, CREAM, CHIDE, SLIME
• Quordle #1056, Sunday 15 December: DROVE, STILT, LINEN, GIANT
• Quordle #1055, Saturday 14 December: SPIEL, ONSET, TIGER, DITTO
• Quordle #1054, Friday 13 December: ERECT, REBAR, MOIST, IDIOM
• Quordle #1053, Thursday 12 December: MILKY, CRIER, STORK, DRIER
• Quordle #1052, Wednesday 11 December: BRIAR, NASAL, SHARD, FLUFF
• Quordle #1051, Tuesday 10 December: BEGAN, TRIAL, IDEAL, GUIDE